Mack Hansen described his winning Ireland debut as a "dream come true" as he picked up the man of the match award following the 29-7 victory over Wales.
The Connacht wing, who hails from Canberra and qualifies for Ireland through his Cork-born mother, has enjoyed a whirlwind start to life in this country after scoring six tries in his opening nine games for Connacht, enough to catch the eye of Andy Farrell and earn his Test bow in today's Six Nations opener.
"The guys inside made my job easier, forwards and backs running great lines and playing very well together," said a delighted Hansen.
"We’ve been working on that in Portugal so to have it all come together like that is special in front of a packed crowd. It was great to see fans back in.
"It’s honestly been a dream come true. Everyone here has adopted me as their own. And I couldn’t be prouder to be Irish today, yeah.
"I think my family and friends are watching (back home), so a shout out to them. I got some special messages throughout the week and it just made this week so special for me. I couldn’t be happier to be honest.
"It’s a great start, what we wanted but we know it will be a very tough task in France. We’ll enjoy tonight and then switch our focus to France."
Asked if the gamble in selecting Hansen had paid off, Ireland boss Andy Farrell replied: “You said it was a gamble, not me!
"He’s nice and calm, he plays and trains like that and he was always going to be like that.
"We're not surprised. He has got the temperament, he's very cool, calm and collected. He suits how we play."
Ireland take on the Six Nations favourites at the Stade de France next Saturday and skipper Johnny Sexton was relieved to get the first job done with room for improvement having lost the opener in Cardiff last year.
"It’s never going to be perfect in your first game, like it wasn’t today," said the out-half. "We've got lots to improve on and we will pick apart the performance like we do all the time.
"It’s just another thing to be doing that after a win. Last year we lost the first game and the Grand Slam is gone, the Triple Crown is gone, everything is gone in one game.
"And you’re up against it trying to win a championship. We’ve everything to play for now and that’s where you want to be in terms of trying to build momentum.
"But we know it is a massive test next week, going to Paris and trying to get a result is incredibly tough and we’ll have to be at our very best to do that.
"France and a lot of teams will have confidence from a good November and summer, they will give us a test."
Commenting on Josh Adams' tackle that saw the Welshman's shoulder catch Sexton on the head, the 36-year-old commented: "It was a bit of a blow but that’s rugby at times.
"And thankfully I was able to play on and we made the yellow card tell with a couple of tries."
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