The beleaguered Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has ruefully admitted that the best Australian player on the pitch in his side’s latest calamitous defeat was playing in Irish green.

Mack Hansen, the ex-Brumby who grew up in Canberra and was snapped up by his mother’s home country, scored his hat-trick of tries within the first half-hour to kickstart Ireland’s record 46-19 win over Australia in Dublin on Saturday.

This was the most wretched night of a dismal tour for Australia, who made countless handling errors in the rain, were sluggish in attack, sloppy at the lineout and flummoxed by an aerial bombardment. It leaves the Wallabies one defeat away from a first winless European sojourn in 67 years. The Wallabies were meant to prove they’re back. But instead they have gone backwards Rea

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