Bundee Aki making the most of home comforts

HOME COMFORTS: Ireland Rugby Tour to New Zealand 2022. Ireland rugby training North Harbour Stadium Auckland 25/6/2022. Ireland’s Bundee Aki during the training. PIC: INPHO/Billy Stickland

New Zealand may be a fresh experience for many in this Ireland touring party as they embark on a first tour here in a decade but for Bundee Aki, arriving in Auckland earlier this week meant a family reunion.

Ireland-qualified through residency having moved to Connacht from the Chiefs in 2014, the Covid pandemic deprived Aki and his family the chance to return to the place of his birth but the south Auckland native has been able to visit his parents and enjoy the comforts of home for the first time in five years this week.