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ABs 'will come looking' for Aki – Marmion
By Liam Blackburn
New Zealand-born centre Bundee Aki will be fired up to play against the All Blacks for Ireland on Saturday, according to Kieran Marmion.
Aki will play at 12 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday when the Irish bid to defeat the only team above them in the Test rankings.
Although he hails from Auckland, the 28-year-old made his international debut for Ireland last November, having been with club side Connacht since 2014.
And Marmion believes the prospect of facing New Zealand this weekend will only serve as an inspiration to Aki.
"Playing the All Blacks won't bother him too much," Marmion told the Irish Times.
"It will probably just fire him up a bit more. We expect Bundee to go straight into them; he won't hold back. He will relish the challenge. It will be a pretty good spectacle to watch."
Marmion has spent the week sharing a room with his Connacht colleague and revealed that Aki is champing at the bit to play.
"He chatted quite a bit to me about it and I know he can't wait to get out there and have a shot at these guys," Marmion added.
"I am sure he will know he needs to stay calm and not be stupid. I am sure he is smart enough to that, as well.
"They will come looking for him, but he has played enough rugby and has enough experience to know not to do anything stupid. He is a tough lad so he will get on with it."
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Latest Comments
You'd swear they didn't win 28-7 away from home....
Go to commentsMcKenzie is better than Barrett , but not better than Richie Mo'unga. Richie regularly outplayed DMac in Super Rugby. , as he did in the 2023 Final in Hamilton. I remember the 2021 Aotearoa Super Rugby Final here in CHCH. Mo'unga took him to the cleaners. McKenzie is a fine footballer , but at best a hybrid 10 . Fergus Burke , ( now playing in England ), who made a big difference when he came back late in the Crusaders season , is a better 10 than DMac. I also think 140 game + Crusader Matt Todd was always a better no 7 than Sam Cane.A big part of 3 title winning teams when South African teams were still in the comp. How many titles did the Chiefs win in that period of time?
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