Lachlan Young, 23, sentenced after court heard he later impersonated McGuire in text messages to her mother

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A killer has been jailed for 28 years for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hannah McGuire, and burning her body in a brutal attack in regional Victoria.

Lachlan Young, 23, looked straight ahead as justice James Elliott handed down the sentence in the supreme court in Ballarat on Tuesday.

• Joe Schmidt says 46-19 defeat to Ireland is ‘a tough one to take’

• Australia on brink of first winless Europe trip in 67 years

The beleaguered Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has ruefully admitted that the best Australian player on the pitch in his side’s latest calamitous defeat was playing in Irish green.

Mack Hansen, the ex-Brumby who grew up in Canberra and was snapped up by his mother’s home country, scored his hat-trick of tries within the first half-hour to kickstart Ireland’s record 46-19 win over Australia in Dublin on Saturday.