‘Pretty stupid… This isn’t just him; this is Jamo, this is Bundee, Finlay. This is me’

‘Pretty stupid… This isn’t just him; this is Jamo, this is Bundee, Finlay. This is me’

Jack Hansen, a winger for the Lions, is not amenable to people who make fun of the quantity of players from the Southern Hemisphere that will be on the 2025 trip in Australia.

Mack Hansen, a winger for the Lions, is not amenable to people who trivialize the number of players from the Southern Hemisphere who will be on the 2025 trip in Australia.

Due to a foot injury he incurred during last weekend’s 48-0 loss to an AUNZ Invitational XV, Hansen will miss the first Test match against the Wallabies. He was eliminated from consideration for selection since he was unable to take part in the team’s first full-day training session of the week on Tuesday.

Despite Hansen’s absence from the first Test, the team includes four players who were born in the Southern Hemisphere: James Lowe, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, and Jamison Gibson-Park.

Throughout the journey, there have been almost constant teasing regarding the number of players from the Southern Hemisphere in the 2025 Lions vintage. And the Australian press corps isn’t the only one. England halfback and podcaster Danny Care stated that it “doesn’t sit well with me,” while Lions veteran Willie John McBride stated that it “bothered” him and suggested rebranding the Lions.

Throughout the trip, players have politely refused questions about the topic, but many of them have previously faced similar line of inquiry.

A UK broadsheet journalist made fun of rugby’s eligibility regulations and questioned the Irishness of Ireland’s Southern Hemisphere contingent last year, prompting Hansen to be asked what he thought.

Hansen told RugbyPass, “Everyone is free to hold their own opinions, but I thought that was a really stupid remark.” James Lowe is as Irish as a Shamrock Shake, in your opinion. This is where Lowey has lived for a number of years. He has done so much and had a child here.

This isn’t just him; it’s also Finlay (Bealham), Bundee, and Jamo (Gibson-Park). This applies to everyone, even myself. I have no doubt that it is the same everywhere else. On and off the field, they sacrifice everything for this nation. Many of those men participate in community service and humanitarian endeavors.

Because they are talented both on and off the field, I think that’s why people have taken to them. Everyone has simply accepted it wholeheartedly.

The journalist clearly has no concept how much pleasure these guys offer to this country and what they do for it, so Hansen stressed that the comment was foolish.

Prop born in South Africa Pierre Schoeman, who made five appearances for the Junior Boks in 2014, agreed.

 

“Obviously, you’re going to do that if you’re good enough to play for your country, you’re good enough to play for the Lions, and you’re selected,” Schoeman said.

“Being a member of the Lions is an enormous honor. My wife and I live in Scotland. I am aware that this also holds true for the other players, including Mack Hansen, who has made Ireland his home.

“You accept it. You accept that completely. You move to a new country and make it your home, much like in the television series Outlander. There, you reside.

“You will seize the chance if it is offered to you and you work for one of the big four in finance.” That’s a home you can truly make.

However, this is not at all like that. You have to fully embrace the culture of the British and Irish Lions in order to represent them. You put a lot of effort into that. Nothing else is important. Not your history or future. It concerns the here and now.

“Today is the time to live; tomorrow might not come, and yesterday is gone forever.” As Lions, that is what we do. The present is the main focus of this journey. This is the important thing.