Irish wings
Mack Hansen
Club: Connacht
Age: 26
Height: 1.89m (6ft 2in)
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Weight: 89kg (14st)
Ireland caps: 27 (12 tries)
Did you know?: He had a number of jobs coming out of school including by his own admission being a lousy electrician. “I was just terrible; they wouldn’t let me do any hard jobs. I didn’t actually do any electrical work at all in my time as an electrician. I did a little bit of childcare for a bit when I ended up rupturing all the ligaments in my ankle and couldn’t really do my trade any more. And I actually had long hair back then as well and the girls would braid my hair, and I’d get paid about $35 an hour, so it was perfect.”
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Why he is so important? He’s a maverick. Not in the “I’m just going to do my own thing and to hell with the rest of you” but the manner in which he can create time and space both for himself and his team-mates. He’s got a lavish skill set and is perfectly suited to playmaking responsibilities as a second receiver which he had as an outhalf and fullback in a former rugby life. Hansen has vision, good timing, runs clean and clever lines and is good aerially. Or as was the case in his second cap against France in Paris (2022) in infiltrating opposition ranks from a kick-off and claiming the ball to race off for a try. Gone in 6.2 seconds.
James Lowe
Club: Leinster
Age: 32
Height: 1.89m (6ft 2in)
Weight: 101kg (15st 13lb)
Ireland caps: 39 (17 tries)
Did you know?: He was a versatile sportsman in his youth. Alongside rugby – he was selected for New Zealand Schools and played four matches for the Maori All Blacks scoring three tries – he won athletics competitions and played basketball for New Zealand under-15s. His try-scoring record for Ireland – 17 in 39 matches (0.45) – for those who have scored more than 15 sees him ranked third behind fellow left wing Jacob Stockdale (19, 0.5 per game) and Denis Hickie (29, 0.47).
Why he is so important? It’s a long list but much like Hansen, Lowe has the capacity to pull off the improbable in a “how did he manage to do that” way. His power into and through the tackle regularly flummoxes opponents – just ask Alex Mitchell – but it is invariably accompanied by a well-timed shoulder dip or a late change in stride length. He is a prodigious left-footed kicker that is a handy option when Ireland are looking for a long exit strategy from their 22. He also possesses subtle touches to his kicking game but it is his vision – Dan Sheehan alone probably owes him half a dozen pints given the try-scoring passes he’s received from Lowe – and ability to max out opportunities that rank him up there with the best.
French wings
Louis Bielle-Biarrey
Club: Bordeaux-Bègles
Age: 21
Height: 1.83m (6ft)
Weight: 79kg (12st 6lb)
France caps: 17 (15 tries)
Did you know?: He has his mother Sandrine to thank for insisting that he play rugby as well as football. She recalled: “I was the one who insisted that he go to rugby because I liked the atmosphere and the state of mind better, even if I didn’t have the culture of this sport. He loved it right away, so much so that in his bed he slept with his rugby ball. And from his first steps at school he told his teacher that he wanted to become a professional rugby player.”
Why he is so important? Joel Bielle-Biarrey had to sign a waiver that allowed a 17-year-old Louis to play for France in an under-20 Six Nations match. His son hasn’t looked back and has gone on to be a global rugby star, instantly recognisable with his red scrum cap and sprinter’s speed. He started life as a diminutive outhalf and those touches are instantly recognisable in his passing and footballing skills; chip kicks or grubbers, he has a deft touch. His 15 tries in 17 Tests, including a couple of match-winning ones, is a remarkable strike rate but so too is the fear that he strikes into opposing teams and a capacity to create for his team-mates.
Damian Penaud
Club: Bordeaux-Bègles
Age: 28
Height: 1.92m (6ft 3in)
Weight: 97kg (15st 3lb)
France caps: 54 (37 tries)
Did you know?: He is one try away from joining the great Serge Blanco as the leading try scorer in the history of French rugby. The great fullback needed 93 matches, while Vincent Clerc, the Toulouse wing in third place, required 67 appearances to score his 34 tries. Damian is the son of former French international outhalf Alain, who won 32 caps for the national side between 1992 and 2000 and led his local club Brive to a Heineken Cup win in 1997, when they beat the Leicester Tigers 28-9 in Cardiff.
Why he is so important? A free spirit on and off the pitch. His old team manager at Clermont Auvergne Neil McIlroy recalled: “Like a lot of kids, [with] the day-to-day stuff, like being on time, he needed a bit of patience. He’d be looking at the sky, looking at the stars, he just needed a bit of help to focus and organise his life a bit.” On the pitch, socks rolled down, he is a stunning athlete, that amalgam of power and pace with a predator’s instincts, and nearly as comfortable at outside centre as the left wing. Dropped for the victory over Italy after an usually error-strewn display against England, he will be a man with a purpose this weekend.
