Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
AKI BREAKY HEART
Schmidt’s saddened by negative reaction to Bundee inclusion and hopes the centre has a ‘scorching’ debut to silence critics
A ‘SCORCHING’ debut by Bundee Aki could take the heat out of criticism of the Auckland man’s Ireland involvement tomorrow evening.
That’s the hope of head coach Joe Schmidt who admits he hasn’t noticed such a storm about the employment of a residency rule player before.
Richardt Strauss was the first, when he made his Test debut against his native South Africa back in November 2012.
Since then Jared Payne and CJ Stander have firmly established themselves as Schmidt favourites.
But in the background the debate about the use of foreign players has raged on and while Schmidt says the players and management are in their own “bubble” in Carton House as they prepare for the game, he confesses he feels sympathy for Aki.
The 27-year-old Connacht centre’s inclusion in an Ireland squad for the first time became a big talking point in midweek.
Ex-international Neil Francis said on RTE TV’S Claire Byrne Live programme that it was “fundamentally wrong” the Kiwi of Samoan heritage would play.
“I’m luckily unaware of it,” claimed Schmidt (right). “People will throw things up because they’re things that they feel they can create interest about.
“I really hope for his sake and for the team’s sake that he has a scorching game, hopefully that will appease some of the doubters. But I know there’s an incredible amount of people who are really positive about his involvement as well.
“For a lot of people, they are really excited to see him play. He’s attracted so much attention fo Connacht.
“I’m not sure there’s been a player who has qualified for Ireland that has created as much interest.”
Schmidt mentioned Payne, whose ability to play centre and at full-back did cause much debate, with many fans wanting him to start in the No15 shirt.
“Ironically the last time we went to South Africa he started at 15 in that fantastic game we managed to win in Cape Town,” he said.
“It’s something that comes up each time there’s someone new who does but I haven’t known it to be as visible as this.
“It’s nice being out here in the bubble so you can just focus on what he actually brings to the group rather than people’s opinions about what he’s doing in the group.”
As things stand, the three-year residency rule will give way to a five-year one in December 2020. “I don’t have an opinion on it,” insisted Schmidt. “I just follow the rules and then I try to best prepare a team.”
Aki isn’t the only player making his Ireland debut. Jacob Stockdale, the 21-year-old Ulster winger, has also earned his chance but his inclusion has been somewhat overshadowed.
Schmidt feels that the focus on Aki, who will link up with Robbie Henshaw in midfield again for the first time since they helped drive Connacht to PRO12 title success in May last year, is partly because Simon Zebo was omitted from the squad.
“I’d reiterate that you should never say never about Simon Zebo either,” he pointed out. “But with 19 Test matches to go before the World Cup, this seemed like the ideal opportunity if Simon Zebo is not going to be in the country during the World Cup build-up and that complicates it.
“We all remain really focused on who isn’t there but we’re just going to work as hard as we can to be as competitive as we can because we know the size of the challenge we’re up against.
“With Bundee, he’s slotted in really well but I don’t think it’s any different for Darren Sweetnam or anyone else.
“Darren’s been in one or two other camps, Bundee came in for just the single day we had earlier in the season.
“So people have dipped their toe in and now they’ve got to plunge in – and it’s a pretty deep pool first up.”