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BUNDEE AKI says he is okey-dokey with doing the hokey-cokey for Ireland.

Aki was in for the wing against the All Blacks, out for the win over Argentina and is back in to face Fiji on Saturday.

And, although the Connacht centre was disappointed not to be involved last weekend, he is at ease with the decision.

Aki said: “It’s tough for anyone. It’s always a challenge but you put that aside and you put the team first.

“I had a different role last week, which was to prepare the boys for the game and I enjoyed that role. It was good to see them thrive, the way they played last week.”

Andy Farrell had opted to start Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose last weekend with Jamie Osborne coming off the bench.

This time around, Aki teams up with Henshaw in midfield, with Osborne starting at full-back with Stuart McCloskey on the bench.

And Aki said: “It’s a healthy, honest relationship with Faz.

“You take it on the chin and you’ve just got to be better and take the opportunity of the week to nullify your mistakes and to be a better person and to be a better rugby player.

“The two boys who played last weekend were unbelievable. You’ve still got the likes of big Stu, the likes of Jamie, lads are coming through and the lads put up a big challenge last week.

“And it’s up to myself to be able to put my best foot forward and to step up another notch. It’s always good to have that competition with us.”

The 34-year-old was honest enough to admit that he should have done better against his home country.

He said: “We have high standards as a group and I know for a fact, speaking from my own experience from the New Zealand game, it just wasn’t good enough.

“You want to play at a high level and that’s what the coaches expect of us, we know what we’re capable of and what we’re able to deliver.”

Aki repeated that it was an honour for him to receive Irish citizenship in September but that has not stopped speculation that he may leave once his current contract expires in the summer of 2026.

Toulon are said to be keen and Aki said: “The situation right now is to play for Connacht, to play with Ireland and yeah, that’s all I’ve got to say!”

SAOIRSE NOONAN has been told she has more to do if she wants to get back into the Ireland squad.

Noonan, 26, was not among the 24 players called up by Eileen Gleeson for the Euro 2025 play-off against Wales, although she is on standby.

That is despite the former Cork footballer’s impressive start to her Celtic career which has seen her score nine times in 11 appearances.

Gleeson said: “it does show the depth of the squad.

“The forward line has changed as well, we have Kyra Carusa, we have Julie-Ann Russell, they have been playing really well, we have Amber involved.

“Saoirse is on the standby list, she has gone to Glasgow Celtic, she is getting minutes there and scoring some goals.

“There are still levels we want her to push to, but she is in the conversation. It is reflective of how the squad is developing.”

Russell is again the only home-based player in the squad with provision made for her and American-based players Carusa and Marissa Sheva given all are out of season.

The Galway United player is training with the men’s team at Salthill Devon.

Gleeson said: that’s the challenge of international football, the variants and league seasons and levels.

“But the American-based players are still training with their clubs and the clubs are facilitating all of their international players to keep them fresh, that is taken care of.

“Julie-Ann is linked in with a boy’s club, so the clubs are supporting their players, and we are linking in with that.

But if a player, there is nothing from a club, we would find a solution to make sure the players are coming in fresh enough.

“We have a performance-lead coach Ivi Casagrande. She monitors the programme, they have regular meetings.

The load is then reported to us. We collect all the training data and the loads and make sure everyone is on track then.

“We expect Julie will come in sharp as always and fit. It’s a good opportunity for Julie to train at a good intensity with the boys. We monitor all that.”

Aoife Mannion has been named in the squad despite having been sidelined by a calf injury.

And Gleeson highlighted the emergence of the Manchester United defender and others as the reason why her side now is much-changed from the one which lost 2-1 to Wales in a friendly in Tallaght in February.

She said: “We’ve both have different routes and challenges at different times.

“We obviously had tougher games in League A when they were in League B. They potentially had the harder game in the play-off semi-finals compared to us.

“They beat us in Tallaght. But we’re a different team to where we were in February.

“Some of it is personnel. In February, it was a friendly window where we played two games, thy played one game.

“We played younger teams, Denise O’Sullivan wasn’t available, Anna Patten and Aoife weren’t involved. So it’s different personnel for us, different experiences for us.

“We see progression, we feel we’ve progressed and we’ve learned. It’s a whole other mentality from a friendly game to a play-off as well so there are lots of factors.”

There is also a change of dynamic from their last play-off, when they beat Scotland in a one-off game at Hampden Park to qualify for the World Cup for the first time.

WALES PLAY-OFF

This is a two-legged affair with the teams meeting in Cardiff next Friday and again at the Aviva Stadium

Gleeson said: “You have a second opportunity if the first one doesn’t go well. It’s a good way for a play-off, both teams play each other at home. It’s fair.

“We will look to go to Wales and be strong and to come back in a good place going into the second leg at home.

“We will still be looking to win the game. What we definitely don’t want to do is go away and come back here and chasing a big deficit.”

Although Louise Quinn (hip) is – along with Ellen Molloy (hamstring), Lucy Quinn (ankle), Jamie Finn (knee) and Jess Ziu (knee) – absent through injury, the veteran defender will link up with the squad.

Gleeson said: “We’ll have Louise around. It’s disappointing for us but it’s hugely disappointing for Louise to miss a play-off.

“She got injured just before the last camp and unfortunately it’s a 12-16 week period so we knew she wasn’t going to be involved.

“Louise is a big part of the team and we’ll be happy to have her in or around us and help us off the pitch as well.”

But she is pleased to welcome back both Megan Campbell and Ruesha Littlejohn and the impressive form of Courtney Brosnan, player of the match in last Sunday’s Merseyside derby.

Gleeson said: “I can’t give Courtney enough praise. She’s phenomenal, she’s fantastic for Everton, she’s a game-winner.

“There might be an emphasis on strikers and scoring goals but the amount of time Courtney has kept us in games with some great saves.

“She’s really developed into a top-class keeper so we’re super-lucky to have Courtney, she’s a huge player for us.”

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