BUNDEE AKI IS set to start his eleventh season with Connacht on Friday night and head coach Pete Wilkins said it is a timely boost as they bid for victory over the Scarlets in Llanelli.
Now 34, Aki is the oldest member in the Connacht squad — a few months older than Denis Buckley who made his 250th appearance on Saturday night — and will play his 139th game for the province since his debut against Ospreys in October 2014.
“His qualities, as an attacker, as a defender, as an organiser is incredibly important,” said Wilkins. “But I think key for this game across the group will be the energy and the intensity we bring to our performance. Bundee is certainly the man that role models for ourselves and for Ireland.
“It’ll be really important on Friday night, a game away from home in west Wales. It’s not somewhere for the faint-hearted, and it’s not somewhere you can go and be a sort of 60, 70% intensity. So I think in terms of that talisman effect that Bundee has on the group, the energy he brings, the edge he brings, not just as I said in his own game, but the 14 or the 22 other guys around him. That’ll be very important to us.”
Wilkins has some selection dilemmas after their haul of ten tries over the opening two games, not least at out-half where new Kiwi signing Josh Ioane is ruled out as he goes through the return to play protocols after a knock against the Sharks on Saturday night.
That necessitated the switch of Cathal Forde from centre to out-half and he master-minded the astonishing comeback win as they turned around a 27-7 half-time deficit into a 36-30 win.
The temptation is to start him at ten on Friday night but Wilkins also has former skipper Jack Carty, the province’s all-time top scorer with 212 games under his belt, chomping at the bit to see action.
Wilkins said he was pleased with the way Forde took on the role on Saturday night.
“We’ve obviously used Fordely in the past to cover ten for us, and he’s filled in there either off the bench or when there’s been injuries during a game. But I think this was the most assured he looked. And in terms of how he controlled the game, I think the run-kick decision making, the clarity he gave to the players around him. I was really pleased, and I think that he played a hugely important part in the way we were able to turn the game around. He did well enough.
“He’s definitely in the conversation for this week, but at the same time in Jack Carty, we’ve got such an experienced and improving campaigner and also someone who’s been training unbelievably well for the last few weeks in the response to Josh Ioane’s form.
“Jack’s still incredibly important for us. He will be this season, and with Josh not being available provides a good opportunity for Jack as much as anyone,” added Wilkins.
Meanwhile, tighthead prop Sam Illo is set for a spell on the sidelines and will this week know the extent of a ligament injury after seeing a specialist. Also ruled out of action this week are back rower Shamus Hurley-Langton (shoulder) and loosehead Jordan Duggan (ankle), but lock Joe Joyce (neck) and winger Shayne Bolton (knee) have returned to training.
