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After their previous underwhelming performance against Japan, the head coach told his Ireland squad to step up their game.

The team listened immediately.

The Irish side had faded in the final stages against the All Blacks and required most of the match to find their rhythm versus their Asian opponents.

However, facing the Wallabies, they began strongly, with Mack Hansen shining brightest during a comprehensive victory that represented the team's finest performance of the season.

In his first international start at the number 15 position, Hansen scored a hat-trick, competed excellently for aerial challenges and played exceptionally against the country of his birth.

"Look, I've had a pretty challenging period with injuries really," Hansen commented.

"I longed for being in this team, I know there's much discussion about me not necessarily being raised here and I didn't grow up here, but I adore this team and this feels like home.

"Any time I get to play for Ireland it's a honor, if you fail to deliver a good showing you might not receive that privilege again.

"My whole focus this period was to go out and perform what I could do."

Manager declared: 'Excellent players don't need justifications'

Following 28 appearances on the wing, Hansen was given the full-back position for the first time with several teammates unavailable.

In his case, it was simply a case of picking up where he finished during the summer.

The experienced player had been in excellent condition before injury disrupted his aspiration of joining the Test team.

Having returned recently, he suffered a foot injury that ruled him out for earlier matches.

Farrell had suggested that Hansen was particularly motivated and these turned out to be not empty words as the ex- provincial player gave his coach a welcome team headache for future matches.

"So my first reaction were, 'You better perform excellently in those two colored shoes!'," commented the coach, referring to Hansen's choice to sport mismatched footwear.

"In fact I believed that was appropriate but apparently Hansen just made that personally regardless. So he's drawn notice to himself before he's even started.

"I said to him before the match, 'Good athletes don't need justifications, they can perform and just be themselves, you can win the player of the game if you want,' and he went, 'Yes, I concur.'

"Therefore he's that type of player, he prepares thoroughly, he's got a great approach to get across his preparation and so that's why he slotted right into the team and he was capable to perform naturally because of that."

The player's performance also received commendation from the rival manager, who stated he was the "exceptional Australian performer" on the night.

"In my view he was outstanding, his experience was evident to the fore," commented the ex- international manager.

"Unfortunately, Hansen was probably the best Australian player on the pitch. He's has a great skillset and he's such a good competitor."

Pressed about what enables the player a strong fit at full-back, the coach continued: "Appearing in the middle of the field is something that he demonstrates from the wing anyway, but I imagine he's better in place for that frequently.

"His aerial play was brilliant, don't you think? I believed we persisted of executing the right approach and that was placing the ball back on them to secure field position.

"The reason that was the correct strategy to do is since it's the players of Mackie who was securing the possessions back, and other players, so [it's] pretty satisfying."

Beyond the star performer, there were multiple positives for Farrell.

Sam Prendergast was outstanding on his return to the fly-half position, the scrum and throw-in functioned effectively and different teammate did not look out of place in his first appearance in the front row.

But possibly most satisfying for the manager was the team bookending the match with multiple strong spells.

Hansen's initial two tries came in the first eleven moments while other players scored in the closing exchanges after the other team had crossed, guaranteeing the home side finished on a positive note.

"In my opinion we really performed freely and approached the game straight from the beginning," stated the coach.

"How we managed numerous elements during the match, particularly them coming back just before half-time and reorganizing ourselves and producing a display like we achieved in the later stages, I thought as far as territory and being across the majority of our strategy in that second half was really pleasing."

The might of South Africa are awaiting for the team, in what might be viewed as an unofficial decider to last year's tied multiple match series on opposition soil.

The coach's team will need to reach a higher level to beat the consecutive title holders, but the recent defeat of the Wallabies was a important advancement in the correct path after an uninspiring start to their fall campaign.