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Mack Hansen on playing 'arguably one of the best wingers of all time'
By Ned Lester
The Springboks’ infamous physicality poses an immense threat to the world’s No 1 ranked team in this weekend’s potentially decisive Pool B fixture, everywhere but on the wings.
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While the Springbok pack is overflowing with elite size and strength, their back three offer a very different but just as damaging threat through their speed and footwork.
Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-lee Arendse have been named to start in the No 11 and 14 jerseys respectively for the match. The pair combined weigh in at the same total as Tongan prop Ben Tameifuna.
What the two lack in size they more than make up for in agility. With electric footwork, the duo often make dismantling one-on-one situations look effortless.
The challenge of stopping Kolbe this weekend rests upon the shoulders of Ireland’s Mack Hansen, who is under no illusions of the danger the men opposite him pose.
“Look they’re arguably two of the best wingers in the world,” Hansen told reporters ahead of the match. “Kolbe, arguably one of the best wingers of all time.
“I was lucky enough to have a game against Kolbe in the Autumn and same with Kurt-Lee as well – played against him for the Bulls and whatnot.
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“You can’t really get used to playing these two lads at all but I’ve played them a couple of times which is nice and I have my thing that I try to do before a game to get ready for it and kind of get my mindset ready and the rest will just come down to how I perform.
“That’s all I’m looking at at the moment, not really what they’re going to bring but what I can bring to stopping them.”
Kolbe scored one of the most famous tries in World Cup history four years ago in Tokyo. Receiving the ball out wide in the 73rd minute, the winger had five sweeping defenders to beat, his pace saw him lose the three forwards in pursuit and a step brushed aside England’s Owen Farrell.
The try cemented the World Cup win for his nation.
Now, the defending champions must build on their recent form and do what no team in the past 15 months has done: beat the Irish.
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There is potential for the clash to be a preview of the World Cup final, and while Ireland have historically not found much success in the knockout stages of the tournament, forwards coach Paul O’Connell says this team has proven to be different.
“We’ve had a Test series decider down in New Zealand, we’ve had a Grand Slam decider, we’ve had a tough autumn series against some very tricky opposition and the boys have always found a way and figured it out,” he said.
“It’s a real strength of theirs.
“They’re going to have to play super well but they’re also going to have to figure things out and it’s something I really enjoy watching them do when they have a challenge in front of them, how they manage to figure it out as a group and they’re going to have to do that at the weekend.”
