SIX NATIONS CAMPAIGNS tend to bring with them plenty of off-field drama, but no one expected the past few days to be dominated by a disciplinary saga.
The weather in the Algarve is overcast and much of the rugby chat here has revolved around the rather gloomy Bundee Aki case.
Ireland were already struggling with a challenging injury crisis and now they’ve added a banned player to their list of unavailable players. No wonder France’s favouritism for next week’s game in Paris has gone out to 13 points.
Word of Bundee Aki facing a misconduct charge started to swirl earlier this week and confirmation arrived yesterday, with a lengthy hearing following on Wednesday afternoon before his four-game ban was announced last night.
The IRFU had already taken the surprising measure of confirming that Aki was dropped from the Six Nations squad before the hearing even started, with a short but strong statement saying that the union “does not condone actions that fall below the standards expected” of Ireland players.
Usually, a union or club would wait until after a hearing had taken place to make such a statement. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.
But the IRFU had intimate knowledge of the events that took place after Connacht’s defeat to Leinster, given that Aki and the match officials involved are all employees of the union.
The IRFU is conducting its own internal investigation on the matter, separate from the independent disciplinary case that resulted in Aki’s ban, but it is not expected that there will be any further sanction against him in terms of missing games.
It’s clear that the IRFU wanted to show swift support for its officials in the wake of the incident involving Mack Hansen after Connacht’s defeat to Leinster in January 2025. That ended with a three-game ban for Hansen and the referee from that match, Chris Busby, later retired in a decision that was understood to be partly due to the fallout.
Aki after last weekend's game in Galway. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
So swift action this time was surely seen as a means of showing referee Eoghan Cross and his team of officials strong support.
With former captain Johnny Sexton, now an assistant coach with Ireland, having served a three-match ban for misconduct towards match officials after the 2023 Champions Cup final, this is a trend that the IRFU clearly wants to nip in the bud.
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And rightly so. Abusive behaviour of any kind has no place in rugby and match officials are on the receiving end of too much of it.
Although the URC has not published a written report from the disciplinary case, their statement about Aki’s ban confirmed that there had been “verbal abuse” of the officials as he engaged with them on “several occasions” after the game.
It’s understood that there were exchanges in the referee’s changing room and around the post-match meal in the Dexcom Stadium, which means the interaction carried on some time after the final whistle.
It has been suggested that he may have used sarcastic language towards the officials as he questioned why some instances of possible foul play had not been checked during the game.
This is obviously an awkward situation for the IRFU given that Cross and his team are also their staff. Indeed, Cross and other Irish officials have refereed Ireland training sessions in the recent past and will likely continue to do so.
It was always going to be interesting to hear the message from inside Ireland camp today as they held their first media session of the week at The Campus in Quinta do Lago. You wondered whether Andy Farrell might front up again despite having spoken at the Six Nations launch on Monday in Edinburgh.
Aki with Ireland boss Andy Farrell. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
It was assistant coach Andrew Goodman who sat down with the small group of travelling Irish journalists, and the overall message was one of support for Aki.
While Goodman acknowledged that Aki made a mistake, that respect for officials is crucial, and that Ireland must continue to work on their discipline, he praised Aki’s character and said he will be considered for selection in the closing two rounds of the Six Nations.
Given that injuries are part and parcel of professional rugby, it’s not difficult to imagine Aki returning to the fray for one of those games against Wales and Scotland in Dublin.
Indeed, it’s not hard to imagine him getting a huge roar from the home crowd if he does return, given that he has been one of the most popular Irish players in recent years.
That is speculative for now, but it doesn’t seem as if Ireland are ready to cut Aki loose.
The impression at their training base today is that Ireland want to show Aki that they are fully behind him despite his ban. It almost felt as if Farrell’s set-up were somewhat at odds with their own union.
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Aki pays price for 'verbal abuse' but he has Ireland's support
SIX NATIONS CAMPAIGNS tend to bring with them plenty of off-field drama, but no one expected the past few days to be dominated by a disciplinary saga.
The weather in the Algarve is overcast and much of the rugby chat here has revolved around the rather gloomy Bundee Aki case.
Ireland were already struggling with a challenging injury crisis and now they’ve added a banned player to their list of unavailable players. No wonder France’s favouritism for next week’s game in Paris has gone out to 13 points.
Word of Bundee Aki facing a misconduct charge started to swirl earlier this week and confirmation arrived yesterday, with a lengthy hearing following on Wednesday afternoon before his four-game ban was announced last night.
The IRFU had already taken the surprising measure of confirming that Aki was dropped from the Six Nations squad before the hearing even started, with a short but strong statement saying that the union “does not condone actions that fall below the standards expected” of Ireland players.
Usually, a union or club would wait until after a hearing had taken place to make such a statement. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.
But the IRFU had intimate knowledge of the events that took place after Connacht’s defeat to Leinster, given that Aki and the match officials involved are all employees of the union.
The IRFU is conducting its own internal investigation on the matter, separate from the independent disciplinary case that resulted in Aki’s ban, but it is not expected that there will be any further sanction against him in terms of missing games.
It’s clear that the IRFU wanted to show swift support for its officials in the wake of the incident involving Mack Hansen after Connacht’s defeat to Leinster in January 2025. That ended with a three-game ban for Hansen and the referee from that match, Chris Busby, later retired in a decision that was understood to be partly due to the fallout.
So swift action this time was surely seen as a means of showing referee Eoghan Cross and his team of officials strong support.
With former captain Johnny Sexton, now an assistant coach with Ireland, having served a three-match ban for misconduct towards match officials after the 2023 Champions Cup final, this is a trend that the IRFU clearly wants to nip in the bud.
And rightly so. Abusive behaviour of any kind has no place in rugby and match officials are on the receiving end of too much of it.
Although the URC has not published a written report from the disciplinary case, their statement about Aki’s ban confirmed that there had been “verbal abuse” of the officials as he engaged with them on “several occasions” after the game.
It’s understood that there were exchanges in the referee’s changing room and around the post-match meal in the Dexcom Stadium, which means the interaction carried on some time after the final whistle.
It has been suggested that he may have used sarcastic language towards the officials as he questioned why some instances of possible foul play had not been checked during the game.
This is obviously an awkward situation for the IRFU given that Cross and his team are also their staff. Indeed, Cross and other Irish officials have refereed Ireland training sessions in the recent past and will likely continue to do so.
It was always going to be interesting to hear the message from inside Ireland camp today as they held their first media session of the week at The Campus in Quinta do Lago. You wondered whether Andy Farrell might front up again despite having spoken at the Six Nations launch on Monday in Edinburgh.
It was assistant coach Andrew Goodman who sat down with the small group of travelling Irish journalists, and the overall message was one of support for Aki.
While Goodman acknowledged that Aki made a mistake, that respect for officials is crucial, and that Ireland must continue to work on their discipline, he praised Aki’s character and said he will be considered for selection in the closing two rounds of the Six Nations.
Given that injuries are part and parcel of professional rugby, it’s not difficult to imagine Aki returning to the fray for one of those games against Wales and Scotland in Dublin.
Indeed, it’s not hard to imagine him getting a huge roar from the home crowd if he does return, given that he has been one of the most popular Irish players in recent years.
That is speculative for now, but it doesn’t seem as if Ireland are ready to cut Aki loose.
The impression at their training base today is that Ireland want to show Aki that they are fully behind him despite his ban. It almost felt as if Farrell’s set-up were somewhat at odds with their own union.
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