After 28 caps on the wing, Hansen was entrusted at full-back for the first time with Hugo Keenan and Jamie Osborne both injured.
For him, it was a case of picking up where he left off in the summer. The 28-year-old was in great form on the British and Irish Lions tour before injury wrecked his dream of making the Test team.
And having returned for Connacht last month, he picked up a foot problem that ruled him out of the All Blacks and Japan games.
After revealing his team on Thursday, Farrell said Hansen had “the bit between his teeth” and they were clearly not empty words as the former Brumbies player gave his head coach an intriguing selection headache in the near future.
“Well my first thoughts were, ‘You better play well in those two different coloured boots!’,” said Farrell, referring to Hansen’s decision to wear one black and one white boot.
“I actually thought that was how it should have been but apparently Mack just did that himself anyway. So he’s drawn attention to himself before he’s even started.
“I said to him before the game, ‘Good players don’t need excuses, they can get on with it and just be themselves, you can get the man of the match if you want,’ and he went, ‘Yeah, I agree.’
“So he’s that type of player, he prepares well, he’s got a great attitude to get across his detail and so that’s why he slotted straight back in and he was able to be himself because of that.”