Bundee Aki has quite the record against Scotland. He’s never lost to them.
His record reads played nine, won nine.
Aki made his Ireland debut nine months after the last time Ireland lost to Scotland in 2017. Of the 10 consecutive games that Ireland have subsequently beaten Scotland in, the only match the Connacht centre wasn’t involved in was the 27-24 Six Nations win in Murrayfield in 2021.
And in the nine games he played, he started all of them and featured the full 80 minutes in six of those matches. And won them all.
What’s the opposite of a bogey team?
Not that you’d think Aki has a fine record against them as he goes for a perfect of 10 wins on Sunday.
He highlights the dangermen in their backline and across their team in such a way that would leave you convinced it’s the Scots who have the dominant record against Ireland.
“Every time I play against Scotland, it’s always a tough match,” Aki said. “Scotland never go away. From the first whistle to the 80th minute, they’re there. They’ve got attacking flair all over the park, the likes of Darcy (Graham), Huw (Jones), Duhan (van der Merwe), Finn Russell, who runs the ship there — and their 9s are sharp 9s. And their back row as well is dangerous.
“I could even go to their props. I think they’ve got the most metres out there with their ball-carriers, so we’ve got a big task ahead of us with how Scotland play.
“Playing against Scotland throughout the years has always been a tough match. There has always been (just) one or two tries or scores between us, so we expect nothing less this weekend.”
Aki wasn’t done.
“Their threats around the park are unbelievable, so if you try to take your foot off the pedal with these guys, they will absolutely tear you to shreds,” he added.
“So it’s (about) making sure that we’re across our plan, making sure that we’re doing the right thing as a group and making sure our cohesiveness as a group is a lot better than against England. We’ve just got to keep improving as a group and a team.”
Aki was less effusive about the threat he showed last weekend. Just ask Marcus Smith, Alex Mitchell or Tommy Freeman who were all swatted aside by Aki on his powerful charge to the try line for a score that levelled the game for the first time in their eventual 27-22 win over England.
Aki puts the brilliance of his try down to the pass Sam Prendergast fired to him on the wing.
“I think I was quite lucky,” he reflected. “ Sam obviously did all the hard work there, drawing in those two players, with Hugo Keenan. Once I saw the try line, I had to make sure I tried to get there.
“It felt really good. Obviously we’d been under the pump the whole time — then coming out in the second-half, to start like that. England started well in the second-half, but to be able to get back with that try was unbelievable; then the boys just kicked on.”
Aki got giddy talking about his team-mate Dan Sheehan, who’s “a freak, an unbelievable player”.
If their tries and attack play was the story of the second-half against England, not taking their chances was the story of the first period.
“Against Scotland, we probably won’t have those kind of chances throughout the game. We’ve got to make sure that we’re much more clinical, and that’s the good thing about the squad, we get to improve on what we didn’t do well in the game.
“We’re obviously very proud of being able to adapt in the second-half, but we’re trying to be more clinical and accurate.”
When asked about their concession of two late tries against England and how something similar could be punished against Scotland, Aki saw the space open up for him to double-down on his pointed message of how lethal Scotland can be.
“We said that if we switch off like that, in any part of the game, against Scotland, they will rip you apart,” he firmly acknowledged. “If Finn Russell sees those things, he will absolutely take you into the gutters, same as [with] Duhan van der Merwe, Huw Jones, Darcy Graham.
“If anyone sort of switches off, they will absolutely cut you apart. We’ve just got to make sure that we’re mentally prepared, mentally sharp and make sure we’re on top of it from the first whistle to the last.”
With talk like that from Aki to keep players on their toes, it’s no wonder they’ve been able to maintain a winning run.
They’ll be hoping it continues.