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'He's earned their respect': Australian-born Irish winger nominated for award after breakout season

By AAP
Ireland's Mack Hansen celebrates his try (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Australian-born Irish winger Mack Hansen’s brilliant arrival on the Test scene has been acknowledged by World Rugby while a pair of teammates could deny Charlotte Caslick a third sevens player of the year title.

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Australia has five players in the mix for the men’s and women’s top individual honour after the sides both won the World Series earlier this year.

Wallaroo Emily Chancellor and Wallabies centre Lalakai Foketi were shortlisted for women’s and men’s try of the year respectively in an otherwise barren showing for the 15-a-side teams.

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There is one Australian in lights though, with former Brumbies talent Hansen nominated for breakthrough player of the year after the back’s scintillating Test entrance for Ireland.

Signed by former Australia men’s sevens coach Andy Friend at Connacht in 2021, Hansen was man of the match on his Test debut and is likely to line up against his country of birth in Dublin this weekend.

“I knew he’d love Ireland and the Irish would love him … and he’s earned their respect,” former Brumbies coach and current Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar said.

“(It was) sad to see him go … but he wanted a new life experience. If we’d asked him if he was going to play for Ireland six-to-12 months into that, he would have laughed.

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“(I’m) happy for him, but hopefully we keep him quiet on Saturday.”

Caslick is in line to take home the women’s sevens top gong in consecutive years – she also won the award in 2016 – but teammates Maddison Levi and Faith Nathan stand in her way.

The emerging pair were central to the side’s 2022 triple crown, prolific try-scorer Levi in particular a standout as they added Commonwealth Games gold and a World Cup to their series triumph.

Fresh off a Hong Kong Sevens win on the weekend, men’s sevens captain Nick Malouf and livewire teammate Corey Toole have also been shortlisted for the top prize after taking Australia to their first World Series title in August.

WORLD RUGBY AWARD NOMINATIONS

* Men’s player of the year: Lukhanyo Am (RSA), Antoine Dupont (FRA), Johnny Sexton (IRL), Josh van der Flier (IRL)

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* Coach of the year: Andy Farrell (IRL men), Fabien Galthie (FRA men), Simon Middleton (ENG women), Wayne Smith (NZ women)

* Women’s breakthrough player of the year: Maud Muir (ENG), Vitalina Naikore (FIJ), Maiakawanakaulani Roos (NZL), Ruby Tui (NZL)

* Men’s breakthrough player of the year: Henry Arundell (ENG), Ange Capuozzo (ITA), Mack Hansen (IRL), Dan Sheehan (IRL)

* Women’s try of the year: Sylvia Brunt (NZL), Emily Chancellor (AUS), Abby Dow (ENG), Linda Djougang (IRL), Nomawethu Mabenge (RSA)

Men’s try of the year: Rodrigo Fernandez (CHL), Lalakai Foketi (AUS), Chris Harris (SCO), Edoardo Padovani (ITA), Louis Rees-Zammit (WAL)

Women’s sevens player of the year: Charlotte Caslick (AUS), Maddison Levi (AUS), Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (IRL), Faith Nathan (AUS)

Men’s sevens player of the year: Terry Kennedy (IRL), Nick Malouf (AUS), Kaminieli Rasaku (FIJ), Corey Toole (AUS).

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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