The 15-year-old boy from Canberra who saw the Brumbies beat the Lions could never have dreamt that 12 years later he would be lining up for the opposition.

Mack Hansen saw the Brumbies pull off the first provincial win over the Lions in more than 40 years on Australian soil as a Man of the Match display from Tevita Kuridrani and Jesse Mogg’s boot downed the tourists 14-12.

Read more: How to watch the Lions play the Brumbies wherever you are

The journey from autograph-hunter to electrician – “I was the worst sparky in Canberra” – and then Brumbies pro was tough enough to get his head around. But when the game time dried up in Super Rugby, Hansen was lured to Connacht in 2021 and courtesy of his mother Diana, who is from Castlemartyr in Cork, he went on to become an Ireland international in the 2022 Six Nations. Now it’s time for the return of the Mack.

Hansen, 27, said: “It seems like an alternate universe. I remember that last (Lions tour); the buzz around Australia and seeing these players you didn’t really get to see. It was amazing – it was cool to me. I always loved the Lions and I didn’t know it would be something that I’d get to do, but I’m here and I’m enjoying it. It feels like I’m properly living the dream.

“It was my dad, my brother and me (in 2013). We were sitting behind the goalposts watching it. It was mad. You don’t expect anyone to actually do it, but I talked to guys after that and they’d been pumped up for the game for weeks, working towards it. They saw it as the be-all and end-all. Also, guys are playing to try to get into the Wallabies as well, so there’s still a lot on the line for a lot of these teams.”

Related: Lions team v Brumbies revealed as Andy Farrell shows his hand with potential Test side

Hansen admits it is a “pinch-me” moment as his rugby journey comes beautifully full circle in the Australian capital on Wednesday.

Mack Hansen Brumbies reunion

While those on the other side of the fence admit the wing is the one who got away, Hansen himself has no regrets about leaving for the other side of the world and shifting allegiance from Australia to Ireland.

He added: “I made my decision and it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made, so I haven’t really looked back at it at all and wondered, ‘What if?’. I’ve just been going forward with Ireland. As I said, I have no regrets with that.

“I’ve got a new life over there, new friends, new family. For me, it’s definitely the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Hansen revealed 30 of his family and friends will be at the GIO Stadium to mark his return when he comes off the bench for Andy Farrell’s side. The caveat for getting tickets was that they must all be wearing red. There’s no room for split loyalties now.

It’s all business down under for Hansen, who is one of the game’s big characters. He may have a tattoo of head coach Farrell after following through on a bet after Ireland won the Grand Slam in 2023, but the boss insists you shouldn’t let his fun side detract from the diligent professional behind the scenes.

Farrell said: “You can’t embarrass him, it’s impossible. Do you know what? For everything that you see of Mack, personality-wise, he is a brilliant professional. He studies the game, he tries to understand it from all sorts of different ways and he’s a massive contributor in trying to help the team get better as well and that’s because he does his homework.

“So wherever he’s got in that space of time is because of the hard work that you guys don’t see behind the scenes. He really cares about his preparation, he’s constantly inquisitive in regards to asking the right questions to want to get better and he’s a proper team player.

“When you’re speaking up quite a bit, which he actually does speak up quite a bit, it makes you take on a little bit more responsibility and he definitely does that.”

Hansen will come head-to-head with a number of old mates but is particularly excited to take on his old adversaries the Lonergan brothers. Scrum-half Ryan will captain the Brumbies while Lachlan is at hooker.

“It’ll be good. I grew up playing against them my whole life, so it’ll be nice. They’re two of my best mates especially, so to play against them again… I haven’t played against them in a while… that’ll be a nice little switch-up.”

Hansen admits he’s not sure how he’ll feel out on the field at his old stomping ground. If you ask us, he can certainly be exceptionally proud of what is an incredible journey since the last time the Lions toured these parts.