Kiwi-born Aki one of us now, says flanker

– New Zealand-born Bundee Aki is fully entitled to play for Ireland, insists Irish flanker Peter O’Mahony.

The 27-year-old centre, who wll make his Test debut for his adopted country today against the Springboks, qualified to play for the Irish (in October) under the three year residency rule (World Rugby changed it to five years earlier this year), but his selection has provoked a furore among some.

Aki himself said at the beginning of the season that he wasn’t Irish and didn’t feel comfortable at taking his place in the national team if there was an Irish player being kept out.

Former Ireland lock-turned-journalist Neil Francis claimed the inclusion of Aki – who was pivotal in unfashionable province Connacht winning the then Pro 12 trophy in 2016 – even in the squad was “fundamentally wrong”.

But O’Mahony has no time for such statements.

“I’ve been very lucky enough to play alongside some super players that have benefited and have come in from that rule,” O’Mahony told the media this week at the Irish base.

“It’s a rule that stands there and Bundee, or any of the (previous) lads, have done nothing wrong. I can’t understand why there was such a focus on him, personally.”

O’Mahony, who will partner another player who qualified through residency his Munster team-mate South African-born CJ Stander in the back row on Saturday, said he hoped Aki would be able to ignore the controversy.

“It wasn’t very impressive from the media point of view, to be honest. That’s the job, and it is part and parcel of it, and I suppose it’s water off a duck’s back for him,” said O’Mahony. – AFP

It’s easy to be pessimistic about the Springboks. I’ll readily admit to that. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to change my own tune. To be honest, I fear the worst for Allister Coetzee’s troops against Ireland tonight. In fact, I fear this isn’t going to be a particularly good adventure to Europe at all.

There’s a distinct sense of unease when it comes to the national rugby team. The Boks might have already won a game more than during the horrible 2016 campaign and lost only two matches this year.

What muddies that picture though is where the two stalemates against Australia fit in. The fightback in Perth was decent enough but even Coetzee admitted that Bloemfontein’s draw felt like a defeat.

Either way, the Boks still only boast a 55% win record this year (five out of nine) and that’s surely not real progress.

I really do doubt that South Africa will make huge strides on this year-end tour. That’s not only down to some questionable selections but also the disjointedness of the coaching staff.

Assistant coach Johann van Graan will only remain with the team until after next week’s Test against France. He then leaves for his new position at Irish giants Munster. Gone is his expertise.

The following week, defence guru Brendan Venter won’t be in camp because he’s vowed to never coach the Boks or Italy when the two teams play each other. Yes, he’s still contracted to the Italians too.

And here’s the really disturbing thing. According to reports earlier this week in Ireland, Coetzee admitted to local scribes that he won’t be meeting with new Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus until next year.

That’s an absolutely crazy thought. Erasmus is back as Saru’s new director of rugby. He’s the man tasked with putting South African rugby back on the map and, more pertinently, he’s probably going to be Coetzee’s boss.

How can there not be any communication between them? Even if it’s just to ask Erasmus what to expect from Ireland this weekend (he did, after all, coach Munster for the past 18 months).

And let’s rather not talk about the team assembled for the Dublin Test. I’m sure it’s an honest group of men but I can’t shake the feeling it’s a pretty mediocre one too.

Hopefully I (and many others) are wrong about this team. But I don’t think so.