Irish stay switched on despite Slam talk

MACK HANSEN insisted Irish Grand Slam talk remains muted after his two tries helped them stutter past Italy and stay in pole position for Six Nations glory. The world’s top-ranked nation were far from convincing in Rome, but still registered a third consecutive bonus-point win. Italy trailed by just four points midway through the second half and continued to pose a threat until Hansen crossed for a second time late on.

Andy Farrell’s men now have a fortnight to prepare for a trip to Scotland, before the finale at home to England six days later. And while wing Hansen admits there has been some in-camp title discussion, he says they will not get ahead of themselves. ‘We do talk about it,’ said the 24-year-old. ‘It’s hard to think about it too much because we do have to take it week by week. ‘We can’t be thinking about England, we can’t be thinking we’ve already beaten a really good Scotland team. We are going to have to go over Scotland and go from there. ‘Of course, there’s a chance to win a Grand Slam. It probably will be in the back of a few people’s minds.’

Ireland were without a host of star names, including injured captain Johnny Sexton, and were made to sweat for success. First-half tries from James Ryan, Hugo Keenan, Bundee Aki and Hansen ensured the bonus point. But scores from Italy’s Stephen Varney and Pierre Bruno, plus 10 points from Paolo Garbisi, kept the Azzurri in it. Despite their defensive struggles, Hansen felt Ireland were in charge of proceedings and believes the test will prove beneficial moving forward. ‘It’s good to get ourselves in uncomfortable positions because it’s going to be happening for the rest of this tournament,’ he said.

‘We had to work our way out of sticky situations. I still felt we were in control. Even though it got close, we were still playing some good footie.’