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Following their previous underwhelming showing against Japan, the head coach challenged his Irish squad to step up their performance.

The team responded immediately.

The Irish side had faded in the final stages against New Zealand and required most of the match to get going versus their Asian opponents.

Nevertheless, against Australia, they started strongly, with the talented back shining brightest during a comprehensive victory that represented the team's best performance this year.

Making his first test match appearance at full-back, Hansen registered a three tries, contested excellently for high balls and played outstandingly against the country of his birth.

"Look, I've had a pretty difficult run with injuries really," Hansen commented.

"I longed for being in this team, I know there's much talk about me not necessarily being born here and I didn't grow up here, but I adore this team and this seems like family.

"Whenever I have to represent for the national team it's a honor, if you don't put in a good showing you may not get that privilege again.

"My whole approach this week was to take the field and perform what I can do."

Manager stated: 'Good players don't need excuses'

After twenty-eight appearances on the flank, Hansen was given the full-back position for the initial time with multiple players unavailable.

In his case, it was simply a case of picking up where he left off during the summer.

The experienced player had been in excellent form before physical issues disrupted his aspiration of joining the Test squad.

After returned recently, he suffered a lower body injury that made him unavailable for earlier fixtures.

The coach had indicated that the player was especially motivated and these turned out to be not empty words as the ex- provincial player gave his coach a welcome selection headache for upcoming games.

"Well my first reaction were, 'You better perform well in those two colored boots!'," commented Farrell, alluding to the player's choice to sport mismatched footwear.

"In fact I thought that was appropriate but it seems Hansen just made that personally anyway. So he's drawn notice to himself before he's even started.

"I said to him before the match, 'Excellent players don't need excuses, they can get on with it and just play naturally, you can win the man of the match if you choose,' and he responded, 'Yes, I concur.'

"So he's that kind of performer, he trains thoroughly, he's got a excellent approach to understand his preparation and so that's why he slotted right back in and he was capable to perform naturally because of that."

Hansen's performance also earned praise from the opposing coach, who remarked he was the "standout Australian performer" on the night.

"I thought he was outstanding, his knowledge showed to the front," commented the ex- national manager.

"Regrettably, Mack was likely the best opposition performer on the pitch. He's has a great ability and he's such a strong contender."

When asked about what enables Hansen a good fit at the number 15 position, the coach added: "Showing up in the middle of the pitch is a trait that he does from the flank anyway, but I suppose he's more in position for that frequently.

"His aerial play was excellent, wasn't it? I thought we persisted of doing the right approach and that was putting the possession again on them to gain territory.

"Why that was the right thing to do is since it's the likes of Mackie who was securing the balls returned, and additional players, so [it's] pretty satisfying."

Outside the star performer, there were multiple positives for the coach.

Sam Prendergast was outstanding on his return to the fly-half position, the scrum and line-out operated smoothly and different player did not look uncomfortable in his debut start in the front row.

But perhaps more satisfying for Farrell was the team bookending the match with two strong spells.

The player's first couple of tries occurred in the opening 11 minutes while additional teammates registered in the closing stages after the other team had scored, guaranteeing the Irish team finished on a positive note.

"In my opinion we really performed freely and approached the game right from the beginning," stated Farrell.

"The way we handled various aspects during the match, particularly them coming back just before the break and reorganizing ourselves and giving a performance like we achieved in the second half, I thought as far as territory and being across most of our strategy in that later period was really satisfying."

The might of South Africa are next up for the team, in what might be viewed as an informal conclusion to last year's drawn two-Test contest on opposition territory.

The coach's team will require to reach a higher level to beat the back-to-back world champions, but Saturday's victory of the Wallabies was a important step in the correct direction after an disappointing start to their autumn schedule.