No Ireland player’s World Cup could have ended more bitterly and hence no one will be more grateful for the chance to throw himself wholeheartedly into the fray against Scotland next Saturday. As if Bundee Aki ever lacked motivation anyway.
Of all the sorry sights in quarter-final week in Tokyo, none compared to the sight of Aki, alone with his thoughts. One could only imagine his mental torture as he was forced to sit out a quarter-final for his adopted country against the country of his birth.
This was, of course, the result of his sending-off and three-week suspension for a high hit on Ulupano Seuteni against Samoa, the country of his family roots.
Meeting the media at Ireland’s base in the Algarve on Tuesday, it’s clear he’ll always regret it, but with the passage of time Aki has come to accept his punishment.
Concussion
“It’s quite hard when you’re in the moment then, but look, that’s what happened. Obviously you never want to see it happen in the game and it was unfortunate for Seuteni to have that impact the way I did,” said Aki in reference to the Samoan outhalf leaving the match with concussion.
“As a rugby player, you’ve just to take whatever decisions they’ve made and I didn’t help with the shoulder on the head and I take some of the blame for it as well. But the decision was made and I just had to live with it and prepare the boys as well as I could the following week.”
Aki admits he’s not been of a mind to over-analyse the incident.
“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, I don’t know, to be really clinical about the way I tackled.
“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.”
Picking up the threads of his season with Connacht couldn’t come quickly enough but he still had to live with the acute disappointment of being suspended for that quarter-final.
“It does, it does linger for a while. I have that in the back of my head, knowing what happened in the past, knowing that it’s going to sit with you for a while but still be able to focus on the next week or the next moment because you can’t let that affect the way you play, and keep affecting the way you play.
“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.”
Serious oomph
Only once under Joe Schmidt since Aki made his debut in the win over South Africa in November 2017 have the Connacht centres Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose been fit and available, and he resolved the riddle by playing Henshaw at fullback.
For this Six Nations opener, not only did Andy Farrell have to choose two from those three, but the form of Chris Farrell and Stuart McCloskey ensured the Irish midfield has rarely been such a competitive area. Aki admits any two from this quintet could have started.
Ultimately though, it was hard for Andy Farrell and co to overlook Aki. He has been ever present in the last two Six Nations campaigns and brings serious Samoan-infused oomph in the collisions on both sides of the ball, probably more so than any other Irish player. That ballast is crucial in the modern game.
Aki has won 10 turnovers in the jackal this season for country and province, more than any other Irish player, and his contributions were huge in Connacht’s home wins over Montpellier and Gloucester. Even in the face of Toulouse’s almost continuous fist-half onslaught at the Sportsground, Aki’s defensive work was immense.
Revealingly, he talks about this game being “the chance to put the jersey back on and make everyone proud again”.
Returning to a packed Aviva Stadium will add even more energy to his performance. “There is nothing better than playing at home is there? Guys roaring, crowd cheering, people singing. Yeah, it’s going to be cool. It should be exciting.”
Not that his infectious, emotionally charged and burning will to win could ever be dimmed in any way, no matter the past.
“I never want to step on that field to lose; never ever, never will. I always want to step on that field to win and try to play the best I can, put my best foot forward. I’ve always been like that and carrying my heart on my sleeve.”
After a 3½-month wait since events in Tokyo, that will never be truer than this Saturday. During that time the 29-year-old Aki also dispelled plenty of speculation to the country by signing another central contract with the IRFU to remain with Connacht.
“I have unfinished business here and I’m just going to keep going until I make sure that I get that business done. Regardless of what that is – I am going to try and keep that close to myself – I have goals set here and it is making sure I achieve those goals.”
Unfinished business indeed. Starting again, finally, this week.
