Ireland could be without Bundee Aki for their Guinness Six Nations opener against France next week, after the centre was cited for comments made to match officials following Connacht’s defeat to Leinster on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old, who has won 68 Ireland caps, will face an independent disciplinary committee today, and did not travel with the rest of the Ireland squad on their Six Nations training camp to Portugal yesterday.<\/p>\n
Ulster\u2019s uncapped centre Jude Postlethwaite has been added to the Ireland squad in Aki\u2019s place.<\/p>\n
“The IRFU can confirm that Bundee Aki has not travelled with the Men\u2019s senior squad to Portugal for disciplinary reasons,” a statement from the IRFU said.<\/p>\n
“The IRFU does not tolerate any form of disrespect shown towards match officials and does not condone actions that fall below the standards expected of players representing Irish rugby.<\/p>\n
“The IRFU are investigating the matter further internally and no additional comment will be made at this time.”<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f “It’s incredible, the amount of chat from Irish players, across the board…” – @bernardjackman<\/a><\/p>\n Are Irish players talking themselves into trouble with match officials?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa\ud83c\udfa7 Full pod: https:\/\/t.co\/E9hPfU2WwT<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Tk1lOmZVLk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) January 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n A statement from the URC says the player is “alleged to have engaged with the match official team on several occasions in a manner which may be deemed to be in breach of the league\u2019s Disciplinary Rules related to Misconduct”.<\/p>\n The full details of what Aki is alleged to have said are unclear, but the centre could be heard remonstrating with referee Eoghan Cross on multiple occasions during his side\u2019s 34-23 defeat to Leinster<\/a> at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n The two-time British and Irish Lion is the third high profile Ireland international to have been cited in recent seasons for comments wether to or about match officials.<\/p>\n Just over a year ago, his Connacht team-mate Mack Hansen was banned for three games after his comments about the standard of officiating<\/a> following a defeat to Leinster, while former Ireland captain Johnny Sexton was also given a three-game suspension in 2023 for his conduct towards South African referee Jaco Peyper and his fellow officials in the aftermath of Leinster\u2019s Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle.<\/p>\n Listen to the RT\u00c9 Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie<\/p>\n \n Follow every Ireland game in the Guinness Six Nations on RT\u00c9.ie\/Sport and the RT\u00c9 News app, or listen to live commentary on RT\u00c9 Radio 1.<\/p>\n Watch live coverage of England v Ireland (21 February) and Ireland v Wales (6 March) on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player.<\/p>\n