Bundee Aki: 'I believe in this group of players but it is a work in progress'

The Connacht powerhouse has taken advantage of the opportunity of a face-to-face session with new performance coach Gary Keegan

Bundee Aki has taken advantage of the opportunity of a face-to-face session with new performance coach Gary Keegan

Bundee Aki may feel he was never a victim of performance anxiety in an Ireland jersey at the World Cup or since but he is feeling the benefits of working with the squad’s new performance coach Gary Keegan.

The condition has been cited as a contributory factor in the IRFU’s post-2019 World Cup review into how Joe Schmidt’s all-conquering side of 2018 became chronic underachievers the following year. And it emerged this week on the eve of the final Test match of 2020 that Keegan, whose pivotal role in transforming Irish Olympic boxing into a medal factory has led to consultancies with the Dublin footballers, Tipperary hurlers, and Leinster Rugby to name but a few, was now also working with the national team in an effort to eradicate the issue at the invitation of Schmidt’s successor Andy Farrell.