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Bundee Aki named to captain Ireland against Maori All Blacks

(Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Kiwi-born Ireland star Bundee Aki has been named to captain his side against the Maori All Blacks in Hamilton on Wednesday.

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Aki will take charge of Ireland in the mid-week fixture, which is the first match of Ireland’s highly-anticipated five-game tour of New Zealand.

The 32-year-old midfielder, who made his name with Counties Manukau and the Chiefs before joining Connacht in 2014, is one of several notable figures named by Ireland boss Andy Farrell for the non-capped match.

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      Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 19

      The match against the Maori All Blacks will act as Aki’s first game back at FMG Stadium Waikato since he left the Chiefs eight years ago after he won the Super Rugby title with them in 2013.

      Also included in the starting lineup is wings Keith Earls and Jordan Larmour, both of whom are mainstays in Ireland’s frontline side.

      Experienced prop Cian Healy, veteran halfback Conor Murray and test regulars Jack Conan, Joey Carbery, Finlay Bealham and Niall Scannell have also been named on the bench.

      Carbery, the Munster first-five, is also a New Zealand-born product, while Scannell’s inclusion in the match day side comes on the same day of his arrival in New Zealand as injury cover for fellow hooker Rob Herring.

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      A total of five uncapped players – loosehead prop Jeremy Loughman, lock Joe McCarthy, blindside flanker Cian Prendergast, first-five Ciaran Frawley and fullback Jimmy O’Brien – have been picked in Ireland’s starting team.

      The remainder of the run-on side is made up by hooker Dave Heffernan, tighthead prop Tom O’Toole, lock Kieran Treadwell, loose forwards Nick Timoney and Gavin Coombes, halfback Craig Casey and centre James Hume.

      On the bench, lock Ryan Baird and fullback Michael Lowry join Ireland’s experienced contingent in the reserves.

      Kick-off for Wednesday’s match between Ireland and the Maori All Blacks is scheduled for 7:05pm NZT [8:05am UTC+1].

      Ireland team to play Maori All Blacks

      1. Jeremy Loughman*
      2. Dave Heffernan
      3. Tom O’Toole
      4. Joe McCarthy*
      5. Kieran Treadwell
      6. Cian Prendergast*
      7. Nick Timoney
      8. Gavin Coombes
      9. Craig Casey
      10. Ciaran Frawley*
      11. Keith Earls
      12. Bundee Aki (c)
      13. James Hume
      14. Jordan Larmour
      15. Jimmy O’Brien*

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      Reserves

      16. Niall Scannell
      17. Cian Healy
      18. Finlay Bealham
      19. Ryan Baird
      20. Jack Conan
      21. Conor Murray
      22. Joey Carbery
      23. Michael Lowry

      * – denotes uncapped player

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      Comments

      1 Comment
      r
      rod 1121 days ago

      Good side expect a torrid game from the Maori team who have plenty of players looking to crack the ABs

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      NH 8 minutes ago
      'The Wallabies need to convert much better - or Melbourne could be much worse'

      Nice one as always Brett. I think the stats hide a bit of the dominance the lions had, and they would look alot worse in that first half when the game was more in the balance. You mention it here but I think it hasn’t been talked about enough was the lineout. The few times the wallabies managed to exit their half and get an opportunity to attack in the 1st half, the lineout was lost. This was huge in terms of lions keeping momentum and getting another chance to attack, rather than the wallabies getting their chance and to properly ‘exit’ their half. The other one you touch on re “the will jordan bounce of the ball” - is kick chase/receipt. I thought that the wallabies kicked relatively well (although were beaten in this area - Tom L rubbish penalty kicks for touch!), but our kick receipt and chase wasn’t good enough jorgenson try aside. In the 1st half there was a moment where russell kicked for a 50:22 and potter fumbled it into touch after been caught out of position, lynagh makes a similar kick off 1st phase soon after and keenan is good enough to predict the kick, catch it at his bootlaces and put a kick in. That kick happened to go out on the full but it was a demonstration on the difference in positioning etc. This meant that almost every contested kick that was spilled went the way of the lions, thats no accident, that is a better chase, more urgency, more players in the area. Wallabies need to be better in who fields their kicks getting maxy and wright under most of them and Lynagh under less, and the chase needs to be the responsibility of not just one winger but a whole group of players who pressure not just the catch but the tackle, ruck and following phase.

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      JW 24 minutes ago
      Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

      Thanks for the further background to player welfare metrics Nick.


      Back on the last article I noted that WR is now dedicating a whole section in their six-point business plan to this topic. It also noted that studies indicated 85-90% of workload falls outside of playing. So in respect to your point on the classification of ‘involvements’ included even subs with a low volume of minutes, it actually goes further, to the wider group of players that train as if they’re going to be required to start on the weekend, even if they’re outside the 23. That makes even the 30-35 game borderline pale into insignificance.


      No doubt it is won of the main reasons why France has a quota on the number of one clubs players in their International camps, and rotate in other clubs players through the week. The number of ‘invisible’ games against a player suggests the FFRs 25 game limit as more appropriate?


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      The only real pertinent question is what do players prefer more, health or money? There are lots of ethical decisions, like for instance whether France could make a market like Australia’s where their biggest rugby codes have yearly broadcast deals of 360 and 225 million euros. They do it by having a 7/8 month season.

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