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After last week's underwhelming performance against the Japanese team, Andy Farrell challenged his Ireland team to step up their game.

Ireland responded right away.

The Irish side had struggled late against the All Blacks and required most of the match to get going versus Japan.

Nevertheless, facing the Wallabies, they began strongly, with Mack Hansen excelling most prominently during a 46-19 triumph that represented Ireland's finest display this year.

Making his debut international appearance at the number 15 position, Hansen registered a three tries, contested brilliantly for aerial challenges and played exceptionally against the country of his birth.

"You know, I've had a fairly challenging run with injuries really," Hansen stated.

"I longed for being in this squad, I know there's considerable discussion about me not exactly being born here and I didn't grow up here, but I adore this group and this feels like family.

"Whenever I get to play for the national team it's a honor, if you fail to deliver a performance you may not receive that opportunity again.

"My whole focus this period was to take the field and do what I could do."

Coach stated: 'Good athletes don't need excuses'

Following 28 caps on the flank, the player was entrusted the number 15 role for the initial time with several teammates unavailable.

For him, it was essentially a case of picking up where he finished during the warmer months.

The experienced player had been in superb form before physical issues disrupted his aspiration of making the international squad.

Having come back last month, he suffered a lower body injury that made him unavailable for earlier fixtures.

Farrell had suggested that Hansen was particularly determined and these turned out to be not empty statements as the ex- provincial player gave his coach a positive selection headache for future matches.

"So my first reaction were, 'You need to play well in those two colored boots!'," commented Farrell, alluding to Hansen's decision to wear different boots.

"Actually I believed that was fitting but it seems Hansen just made that personally anyway. So he's drawn notice to himself before he's even started.

"I told to him before the match, 'Excellent players don't need justifications, they can perform and just play naturally, you can win the man of the match if you want,' and he went, 'Yeah, I concur.'

"Therefore he's that kind of performer, he trains thoroughly, he's has a excellent approach to get across his detail and so that's why he fitted straight into the team and he was capable to perform naturally due to that."

Hansen's performance also received praise from the opposing manager, who remarked he was the "standout Australian performer" on the evening.

"In my view he was super, his knowledge showed to the fore," said the ex- national manager.

"Regrettably, Mack was probably the standout opposition performer on the pitch. He's got a excellent ability and he's such a strong competitor."

Pressed about what makes Hansen a good fit at the number 15 position, the coach continued: "Appearing in the middle of the field is something that he does from the wing anyway, but I imagine he's better in place for that frequently.

"The player's high ball work was excellent, wasn't it? I thought we persisted of executing the correct approach and that was putting the ball back on them to secure territory.

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

Outside Hansen, there were multiple encouraging aspects for Farrell.

Another player was excellent on his comeback to the number 10 jersey, the set piece and line-out functioned smoothly and different teammate did not look uncomfortable in his first appearance in the front row.

But possibly more satisfying for Farrell was Ireland framing the game with multiple strong spells.

The player's initial couple of scores occurred in the first 11 moments while other players scored in the final exchanges after the other team had crossed, ensuring the Irish side finished on a positive note.

"I thought we really let ourselves go and approached the match right from the beginning," stated Farrell.

"The way we handled various elements throughout the game, particularly the opposition responding just before the break and regathering ourselves and producing a display like we achieved in the later stages, I thought as far as field position and being across the majority of our strategy in that second half was truly satisfying."

The strength of South Africa are awaiting for Ireland, in what could be viewed as an unofficial decider to the previous season's drawn multiple match series on opposition territory.

The coach's team will need to attain a higher standard to beat the consecutive world champions, but the recent victory of the Wallabies was a important advancement in the right direction after an uninspiring start to their autumn schedule.