Bundee Aki not nearly done yet after standout 2023

The Connacht centre was a force of nature for Andy Farrell’s team in 2023.

STELLAR YEAR: Ireland's Bundee Aki scores his side's first try of the game during the Rugby World Cup 2023 quarter-final match at Stade de France, Saint-Denis. Pic: Adam Davy, PA Wire.

Ireland’s World Cup bid might have fallen short in 2023, but Bundee Aki couldn’t have soared much higher.

The Connacht centre was a force of nature for Andy Farrell’s team in France as they progressed unbeaten through the pool stages, beating South Africa and Scotland along the way, before the side fell to New Zealand in a tight quarter-final in Paris.

His impact since arriving in Galway from south of the equator in 2017 has been undeniable, for club and for his adopted country, but here he was at the zenith of his powers and, while he is 33 now, Aki is far from finished.

“I certainly believe that there’s a lot more, that I can definitely offer more and keep going after things, and achieve goals here and there,” said the former Chiefs player who has signed on with Connacht and the IRFU through to the end of the 24/25 season.

“So, I definitely want to keep giving my best and serve the time until I know it’s my time to finish, and then I’ll put the boots up. But at the moment, I’m feeling good, I’m feeling fresh and looking to achieve more.” 

His efforts in green while in France saw him named as the Rugby Writers of Ireland’s men’s player of the year in Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse last night having emerged ahead of Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan, Andrew Porter and Johnny Sexton in the voting process.

Aki found himself having to return to Paris the night after the World Cup final when he was picked on the Men’s XVs Dream Team of the Year. A bittersweet experience given the frustrations after that All Black reversal two weeks earlier.

He has said it before and he repeated it this week, those days in France were incredibly special as a group of players, coaches and staff went about their business of trying to go where no Irish team had gone before.

Ultimately, it ended in disappointment and Aki, like so many of his teammates, feels a particular sense of regret in not being able to give the likes of Sexton and Keith Earls a more celebratory end to their rugby careers.

“Sport is cruel, but I certainly think the boys gave a bit of joy to a lot of supporters and a lot of kids. That was the feedback we got and as a sportsperson you want that, to see kids pick up a rugby ball and enjoy the sport.

“But you can’t get away from the fact that we didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve. We wanted to get to that goal as a group and we certainly believed that we could have got there.” 

That disappointment in the autumn will stand as the dominant theme for the men’s calendar year but the claiming of a rare Grand Slam and a first Six Nations title of any kind since the last 5-and-0 run in 2018 shouldn’t be glossed over.

Scooping the lot in Dublin – the first time Ireland had secured the slam in the city – made it all the special for Aki who played in all the games and started three of them having been left out of Connacht’s only two months earlier.

Farrell, though, stuck by him.

“Andy and all the management have played a massive part in my career. The amount of faith they’ve put in me and the amount of trust they’ve put in me and the team, you want to play for people that trust you, you want to put your best foot forward and not let them down, and make sure that you play the best you can.” 

Did he play the best rugby of his career last year? He really doesn’t look at it that way, or won’t say so publicly anyway. Aki prefers instead to put his contribution into the context of the class and the system around him.

The challenge for now, before Ireland’s attempt to defend their Six Nations baubles, is with a Connacht team that has had an up-and-down season and now needs to find a first win in the Champions Cup away to Lyon this weekend after two defeats pre-Christmas.

“We had a tough old first block of the season with Connacht but it was nice to be able to grind out a good win against Munster. We’re looking to use that momentum against Lyon. It’s going to be tough.

“But it’s Champions Cup, it’s the best ‘comp’ in the world and every game is tough. So, we’ve got to go there and give it everything we have and come back home to face Bristol six days later and then straight into the Six Nations.”