Ireland assistant coach Andrew Goodman insists Bundee Aki still has a role to play in their Guinness Six Nations campaign, despite his suspension for “verbal abuse and disrespect” towards match officials.
The Connacht centre will miss the opening three fixtures of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign due to a four-game ban, after he “engaged with the match official team after the game on several occasions”, following his province’s 34-23 defeat to Leinster last Saturday.
News of Aki’s citing on Wednesday was followed by a statement from the IRFU, who confirmed the player had not travelled with the squad for their pre-Six Nations camp in Portugal.
The union also suggested they would be conducting their own internal review into the nature of Aki’s behaviour.
While Aki was penalised during the game for dissent, it’s believed the incidents which led to his suspension came after the match, with RTÉ Sport understanding there were three separate interactions that prompted the citing.
The Irish management would not go into specifics, when asked for further details this afternoon.
“With it happening in the Connacht match and being dealt with by Connacht and the IRFU away from here, and the URC obviously being involved, I can’t give you too much detail on the actual incident,” Goodman (below) told RTÉ Sport.
“First of all, I’d say that we know respect is a massive part of the game we play, and referees are obviously a big part of that as well. So, we take that very seriously.”
Aki will miss Ireland’s away trips to Paris and London, as well as the home meeting with Italy, but will be available for the final two games at home to Wales and Scotland.
And Goodman says there is no reason why Aki wouldn’t be considered for selection when his ban is up.
“The other thing is that we’ve got huge support for Bundee,” said the Kiwi.
“I’ve worked with him for the last couple of years, but known him a lot longer than that, so I know he’s a great character and he’s made a mistake, and we’re going to help him work through it.
“Of course, a player of Bundee’s calibre that’s done great things in the Irish jersey before will definitely be considered.
“But for now, we’re working with the guys that we’ve got, and when you look at Jude Postlethwaite coming into the camp for the first time and the excitement that he’s shown over these first couple of days.
“We’ve got Tom Farrell, obviously who made his debut in November, who’s been consistently good for Munster. Ringer [Garry Ringrose] and then obviously Stu [McCloskey], who for us in November was one of our standout players.
“They’re really ready to go and we’re working with them and looking forward to that.”
This is Aki’s (above) second time getting suspended for comments aimed at match officials, after he was banned for three games in 2017 for an incident also against Leinster.
In 2023, then-Ireland captain Johnny Sexton was suspended for his conduct towards Jaco Peyper following Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle, and Connacht’s Mack Hansen was banned for a press conference outburst after his team were beaten by Leinster just over a year ago.
“I’m sure like any other team we talk about discipline,” Goodman added.
“We talk about respect for referees and it’s not something… obviously you know the three incidents.
“So they’ve all happened outside of this Irish environment but with them being players here, we talk about discipline and we know the importance of it.”
Meanwhile, Tadhg Furlong remains a doubt for next week’s Six Nations opener against France in Paris, with the tighthead prop sitting out the team’s pitch session at their Algarve base this afternoon.
While Goodman said he is still “in contention”, the 33-year-old is running out of time to prove his fitness, with one week to go until the meeting with France.
Hugo Keenan (below) was the latest high-profile injury to hit the squad this week, with the full-back suffering a suspected broken thumb, which could rule him out for the entire championship.
The Leinster man is yet to feature since the summer’s British and Irish Lions tour, having recently got back onto the pitch with following hip surgery.
Keenan has returned to Dublin where he will see a specialist before possible surgery, and it leaves Ireland with a big decision to make for the 15 jersey in Paris.
“We’ve got still got great options there and they’ve been competing out at training the last few days,” Ireland’s attack coach said.
“When you look at Jamie Osborne, who was there for a lot of November, he’s back in contention.
“Jack’s [Crowley] obviously played there for us in bits. Ciarán Frawley’s been playing there for Leinster. Jacob Stockdale’s been playing there for Ulster, so we’ve got plenty of exciting options that we can have a look at back at 15.”
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