Not even howling wind and sideways rain could take away from Mack Hansen's mood last night after his man of the match display for Connacht.
The 23-year-old Australian, who is Irish qualified, marked his home debut for the province with a stunning try last night, as Connacht saw off the Vodacom Bulls 34-7 at The Sportsground.
Hansen's try was Connacht's third of the night and effectively killed the tie, with the nippy winger catching a high ball in his own half, before outpacing the Bulls defence to score an early try of the season contender.
It was a try that brought the house down in Galway, with the province welcoming a significant crowd back to The Sportsground for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
3,007 fans were at the venue to see Hansen and his teammates emphatically defeat South Africa's strongest franchise.
And such was the enthusiasm of the crowd being let back onto the terraces, Hansen seemed genuinely surprised afterward upon discovering the attendance figure.
"I didn't know they only had 3,000 there, it honestly felt like it was 10 (thousand)," he told reporters.
"I've never experienced footie where there was singing in the crowd and everything, it was just unbelievable, such an amazing atmosphere and I can't compliment the crowd enough."
Seven days ago Hansen and his Connacht team-mates had been frustrated to leave Cardiff with nothing after a 33-21 defeat, the winger yellow carded on his debut, and the Welsh side taking control of the game in his absence.
Asked if they felt they had a point to prove against the visiting Bulls, Hansen said the coaching team took all the pressure off the players, which allowed them to flourish.
"I think we actually played some good footie last week as well, but just not for the full 80.
"To come back this week, the coaches don't put any pressure on you, they just say: 'Go out and do what you can do', so everyone has 100% confidence in each other, so you don't ever feel like your head's on a chopping block.
"It was just really good to see everything come together, it's what we've been working on intensely for the last couple of months.
"We showed tonight how dangerous we can be once we stick to our structures and play our type of footy," he said.
If Hansen wasn't sure what he was getting himself in for in his move to the west of Ireland, he certainly does now.
The wind was constant and the rain was sheeting at the Galway venue last night, a world removed the benign winter rugby conditions Hansen would be used to in his home town of Canberra.
The regularity of those conditions in Galway Bay make Connacht's determination to play a high-tempo game even more difficult and admirable.
However, Hansen says he's more than happy to keep playing in those conditions, if every week is the same as this.
"It doesn't matter, this is beautiful mate, beautiful. Can't complain!", he joked.
"If anything it wasn't raining enough!"
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