Muldoon explains Aki and Bealham absence from Connacht training

CONNACHT ASSISTANT COACH John Muldoon has shed some light on why Irish internationals Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham are not training with the province this week or playing against Benetton in a crunch URC clash on Saturday.

Most Irish internationals returned to training with their provinces on Monday, including Leinster’s Robbie Henshaw who was married last week, and some of them are set to play this weekend in the URC.

Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins confirmed on Monday that Aki and Bealham had not resumed training with the province and would be integrated later in the week.

Connacht are under pressure to respond after one of their worst displays in years when a Lions side down to 14 men after 17 minutes beat them 38-14 in Galway on Saturday, with the South Africans, who had never won in Ireland before, ran in five tries to one when they were down a man.

The defeat cost Connacht a chance to boost their top-half hopes and now head to Treviso to take on a Benetton side level on points with them, but below them on points difference.

Benetton contributed the most players to Italy’s surprising showing in the Six Nations and some of them returned to club action last weekend, but while the remainder of them are set to face Connacht on Saturday, Muldoon confirmed there were no plans to bring Aki and Bealham back earlier than planned.

“Finlay has had a new addition to his family,” said Muldoon. “He needs a little bit of time to get to know his little fella.

“And Bundee has been carrying a couple of injuries and obviously anyone who was at that Scotland game would have seen the strapping on his legs.

“We are looking forward to the lads coming back in. We are looking forward to a few lads transitioning back from injury over the next couple of weeks to add some fire to us and competition in places.

At the end of the day they have been with Ireland for the last couple of weeks and they will get when they get back and we look forward to them joining the group again.”

Muldoon said Connacht are keen to bounce back from Saturday’s horror show against the Lions and he’s confident they will do that. He was encouraged by a strong training session on Tuesday morning and knows the players want to hit back.

“The lads were keen to get on the pitch,” added the former Connacht captain, now in his first year as lineout and maul coach after five seasons with Pat Lam’s Bristol Bears.

Tough conditions out there, lashing rain, but the lads are keen to right the wrongs of the weekend and Saturday can’t come quick enough.

“We’ve certainly made things a little bit more difficult for us, but it’s in our control and it’s far from over in that aspect. It’s not as if we have completely blown our chance. We are disappointed. We know how big this game is.

“We understand, after the performance at the weekend, we have to make sure that we get our stuff right. We have to make sure that our physicality is right. Effectively we are up against an Italian team, Italian pack, so we have to make sure we match them.”

Meanwhile, tighthead prop Jack Aungier has ended speculation about returning to Leinster by signing a new two-year contract to remain at the Sportsground.