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Ireland issue statement in response to Bundee Aki allegations
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Ireland issue statement in response to Bundee Aki allegations
By Josh Raisey
The Irish Rugby Football Union have confirmed that they are conducting an internal investigation following allegations that centre Bundee Aki “engaged with the match official team on several occasions” after Connacht’s loss to Leinster on Saturday.
The 35-year-old was dropped from the Ireland squad for “disciplinary reasons” this week and replaced by Ulster’s uncapped centre Jude Postlethwaite for their training camp in Portugal ahead of the Guinness Six Nations.
The 68-cap Ireland international will instead appear before an independent disciplinary committee in relation to the incident.
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Furthermore, Ireland issued a statement on Wednesday, a day after they arrived in the Algarve, saying they will investigate the matter internally.
The statement reads: “The IRFU can confirm that Bundee Aki has not travelled with the men’s senior squad to Portugal for disciplinary reasons.
“The IRFU does not tolerate any form of disrespect shown towards match officials and does not condone actions that fall below the standards expected of players representing Irish rugby.
“The IRFU are investigating the matter further internally and no additional comment will be made at this time.”
Speaking before Aki’s hearing was confirmed, former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman said on the RTÉ Rugby podcast that referees appear to be reacting to the way they are talked to by Irish players, which he said “will be really worrying for [Andy] Farrell.”
This came after Aki was penalised by referee Eoghan Cross for repeatedly confronting him during the match at the Dexcom Stadium.
“Even the one at the weekend for Connacht, Eoghan Cross, the referee, he warned Jack Carty and Bundee and you could hear from his tone and you could see from his body language that he was on the edge of saying ‘enough’s enough,’ he’s warned them,” Jackman said.
“A couple of plays later, he has to penalise Bundee for questioning his decision, when in actual fact the decision that Bundee was questioning was the right decision from the referee, Bundee was wrong.”
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