BUNDEE AKI’S MOST recent act in an Ireland jersey was the high tackle on Samoa’s UJ Seuteni that resulted in him being red-carded and banned, missing the World Cup quarter-final defeat to New Zealand as a result.

Whether Aki could have made much of a difference on a dire day for Ireland against the All Blacks is debatable but that sending off meant the centre’s own unhappy ending to the World Cup came a week earlier than his team-mates.

Aki after being red-carded at the World Cup. Adam Davy Adam Davy

That recent memory means the 29-year-old is as motivated as anyone to get back onto the pitch in an Ireland jersey, with Aki set to team up with Garry Ringrose in midfield against Scotland in Saturday’s Six Nations opener.

Aki had to see off the competition of Robbie Henshaw to claim the 12 shirt for this weekend but the Connacht man has been an important figure for Ireland in recent years, meaning it would have been very difficult to leave him out.

Since Aki’s debut against South Africa in 2017, he has essentially been an ever-present in the 12 shirt, including starting all 10 games of the 2018 and 2019 Six Nations. His performances have been very consistent, while his recent form for Connacht has also been strong.

Aki’s 10 breakdown turnovers for province and country so far this season mean he is the most prolific jackal in the entire Ireland squad, while a 91% tackle success rate also hints at the impact he is bringing with his physical defence.  

With 23 defenders beaten and five offloads, Aki has shown his attacking skillset too, while his ability to make explosive carries in congested channels is also well-known. New head coach Andy Farrell and his attack specialist Mike Catt will be looking to bring out the very best of Aki as a carrier and also as a playmaker.

For the 23-times capped Aki – who signed a new three-year central contract extension with the IRFU and Connacht in November – this weekend against the Scots allows him to move on from the lingering frustration of that red card at the World Cup.

“As a rugby player, you’ve just to take whatever decision they’ve made on it and I didn’t help with the shoulder on the head and I take some of the blame for it as well,” says Aki as he reflects on the high tackle.

“If you look at it, how fast it happened… you know what I mean? It’s an instinct, it’s a reaction and it’s the way we grow up as rugby players – you just follow your instinct and obviously if you think about it, you’d go back and try and adjust and, I don’t know, be really clinical about the way I tackled.

Aki at Ireland training in Portugal on Tuesday. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“Yes, I should have went lower. Yes, I should have slowed my feet down. Yes, I should have done this and that.

“But it just happened so quick, it happened so fast and it just ended the way it did.”

Aki admits the red card was in his mind initially as he got back onto the pitch with Connacht post-World Cup but his job requirement is to bring physicality and he has very much moved on.

“You still have to play the game you want to play and still play as hard as you can, as best as you can and you’re going to do that knowing that there were things that you weren’t satisfied with in the previous few games,” he explains.

“The only way to deal with it was to play rugby again, try and play rugby the way you do best and you obviously try not to think about that tackle, and try not to think about not making it happen again. You just want to try and enjoy rugby and go back to the basics because that’s what it is.”

Keenly aware of the competition for places in Ireland’s midfield – Aki cites the form of Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, and Chris Farrell – the Connacht man has done his talking on the pitch in recent months with a string of powerful performances.

With outside centre Ringrose in scintillating form for Leinster, Aki is excited about getting the new Farrell era up and running against the Scots.

“Garry is phenomenal, incredible,” said Aki. “Watching him play European games, he is scoring tries for fun. Hopefully, this week he can share some of those tries with me! He is world-class.”