Ireland insist the door remains open for Bundee Aki to return to Guinness Six Nations duty once his four-game suspension is at an end next month.
The Connacht centre is set to sit out Ireland’s first three games of the 2026 championship after a URC Misconduct Complaint for “verbally abusing and disrespecting” match officials last Saturday night was upheld by an independent disciplinary hearing on Wednesday night.
The 35-year-old British & Irish Lion midfielder with 68 Test caps had already been omitted from Andy Farrell’s squad which travelled to Portugal’s Algarve at the start of the week to begin preparations for Ireland’s Six Nations opener at defending champions France in Paris next Thursday.
The decision came after Aki had conceded a penalty for dissent during the URC derby loss to Leinster and then had “several” interactions with the all-Irish match officials team led by referee Eoghan Cross after the match at Galway’s Dexcom Stadium.
The URC sanction was a six-match suspension, with two of the games suspended, meaning Aki is banned for Connacht’s league clash with Zebre Parma this weekend and then Ireland’s championship fixtures against France, Italy and England. He will be free to face Wales at Aviva Stadium on Friday night, March 6 and Ireland attack coach Andrew Goodman said a player of Aki’s quality would definitely be in the selection mix for the round-four clash in Dublin.
“I think he misses the first three games for us. So, of course, a player of Bundee’s calibre that’s done great things in the Irish jersey before will definitely be considered,” Goodman said on Thursday following training at Ireland’s Quinta do Lago training base.
“But for now, we’re working with the guys that we’ve got, and when you look at Jude Postlethwaite coming into the camp for the first time (called up as Aki’s replacement) and the excitement that he’s shown over these first couple of days.
“We’ve got Tom Farrell, obviously who made his debut in November, who’s been consistently good for Munster. Ringer (Garry Ringrose) and then obviously Stu (McCloskey), who for us in November was one of our standout players. They’re really ready to go and we’re working with them and looking forward to that.”
Goodman declined to discuss Aki’s actions which are still subject to an IRFU investigation, given his verbal abuse was directed at Irish match officials.
“With it happening in the Connacht match and being dealt with Connacht and the IRFU away from here and the URC obviously being involved, I can’t give you too much detail on the actual incident, but, first of all, I’d say that we know respect is a massive part of the game we play, and referees are obviously a big part of that as well. So, we take that very seriously.
“The other thing is that we’ve got huge support for Bundee. I’ve worked with him for the last couple of years, but known him a lot longer than that, so I know he’s a great character and he’s made a mistake, and we’re going to help him work through it.”
Ireland lost full-back Hugo Keenan to a thumb fracture sustained in training on Tuesday. He was set to make his first appearance of the season at Stade de France having undergone hip surgery following last summer’s British & Irish Lions Tests in Australia, when he scored the series-clinching try against the Wallabies to win the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Now Keenan has returned to Dublin with no replacement called up and Goodman said it was unclear whether he would be missed for the entire Six Nations campaign.
“He’s going home to see the surgeon now. We’re waiting for an opinion from him.
“For that amount of time out of the game, six months or whatever it’s been with his hip, he’s coming back, so excited to get back into representing his country and he was training sharply.
“He’d done his clarity walkthroughs and he’s great for the squad, he builds so much belief. He’s a guy that people can depend on. He’s consistent as a player, he’s a great lad off the field, so it was great to see him back smiling on the rugby field and it was just such a nasty incident, in a non-contact drill. It’s just one of those things that happens sometimes.”
Ireland do have Jamie Osborne back fit, though the Leinster utility back has not played since deputising for Keenan at 15 for Ireland against Japan last November, when he sustained a serious shoulder injury. Goodman said the jersey was up for grabs for Ireland’s Stade de France mission next week.
“We’ve got still got great options there and they’ve been competing out at training the last few days. When you look at Jamie Osborne, who was there for a lot of November, he’s back in contention. Jack (Crowley) has obviously played there for us in bits. Ciarán Frawley’s been playing there for Leinster. Jacob Stockdale’s been playing there for Ulster, so we’ve got plenty of exciting options that we can have a look at back at 15.”
Ireland’s chief injury concern remains Tadhg Furlong’s calf and the first-choice tighthead prop was the only player to sit out training on Thursday at Quinta.
“He was doing some rehab and he’s going through his process and he’ll be assessed going through Test week next week, so not ruled out, going through his return to play protocols,” Goodman said of Furlong.
“We’re being really cautious with him now so we can give him the best chance next week. He’ll be doing his rehab with the physios on the side, and then we’ll assess him at the start of the Test week.”
