Bundee Aki

Fua Leiofi Bundellu Aki (born 7 April 1990) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Connacht.

Born in New Zealand, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

Of Samoan descent, Aki was born in the Auckland suburb of Ōtāhuhu, to Hercules and Sautia Aki.

He was named Fua Leiofi, but was called Bundellu after the doctor who delivered him.

The nickname "Bundee" was given to him by a rugby coach at under-age level.

Bundee was the second eldest of six children, with one brother and four sisters.

Aki grew up in Manurewa, a suburb in South Auckland, and attended Manurewa High School, where he played for the school's First XV rugby team.

He took a year out from a professional rugby career in 2011, when he worked as a bank teller.

Aki grew up and went to school with fellow Chiefs teammate Tim Nanai-Williams.

Aki has four children and frequently highlights the importance his family has to him.

Aki lives in Oranmore, a suburb of Galway city.

Aki played for the Borneo Eagles based in Sabah, East Malaysia Year.

Aki began playing for Counties Manukau in the 2011 season.

He made nine appearances for the side with five of these coming as starts, scoring three tries as they finished fourth in the Championship Division of the 2011 ITM Cup.

In the 2012 ITM Cup, he played 11 of the team's 12 games, starting on each occasion and scoring six tries.

Counties Manukau finished top of the Championship Division and won their play-off games against Southland and Otago, which earned the side promotion to the following year's Premiership Division.

In September 2012, it was announced that Aki had signed for reigning Super Rugby champions the Chiefs, having been part of the side's development set up previously.

With Counties promoted to the Premiership Division, he played in all ten of their regular season games in the 2013 ITM Cup, starting eight of these, as the team qualified for the play-offs on their return to the top flight.

He also started in the team's play-off semi-final, a 41–10 defeat to Wellington.

Aki scored one try during the course of the season, with the score coming against Tasman in a 20–40 defeat.

Aki came into the team for the 2013 Super Rugby season.

He played in 13 of the side's 18 regular season games, starting 12 of these and scoring five tries, as Chiefs finished top of the table.

Aki also featured for the team in the play-offs coming off the bench after 48 minutes against Crusaders in the semi-final, and after 46 minutes in the final against the Brumbies as Chiefs won their second title in a row.

2014 was Aki's final season with Counties, as it had been announced earlier in the year that he would be leaving New Zealand to join Irish side Connacht.

He started all ten games as Counties finished fifth, two points outside the playoff places, in the 2014 ITM Cup, but did not score any points.

Aki's final appearance for Counties Manukau came in the team's 41–18 victory over Auckland on 8 October 2014.

Aki played ten times for Chiefs in the regular season of the 2014 season, starting seven of these matches and scoring three tries.

Chiefs finished sixth in the final standings of the league season, the final qualifying spot for the competition's play-off rounds.

Aki started in the Chiefs' quarter-final game against the Brumbies, a replay of the previous year's final.

Aki scored his fourth try of the season, but finished on the losing side as the Brumbies won the game by 32–30.

This was Aki's final game for the Chiefs, as it had been announced earlier in the year that he would be moving to Irish side, Connacht.

Aki signed for Connacht in April 2014 and moved to Ireland ahead of the 2014–15 season.

This move made him the second Chiefs player in as many years to join Connacht, following the transfer of captain Craig Clarke the previous season.

He quickly became a key part of Connacht's setup, starting whenever fit and excelling on the pitch.

On 25 October 2016, Aki signed a new contract to remain at Connacht until 2020.

He became eligible to play for Ireland after completing three years of residence in the country in October 2017.

In November 2019, he signed a fresh three-year extension to his central contract, to keep him with Connacht until the summer of 2023 at least, the first Connacht player to sign a central deal with the union.

After signing, he declared: "I am truly grateful for the opportunity I have been given to represent both Connacht and Irish and am delighted to extend my IRFU contract (...) From the start of my Debut in the Irish jersey me and my family have had great support". His decision to extend his contract came after much media speculation about what his future may hold after a disappointing 2019 Rugby World Cup.

In October 2023, following Ireland's exit from the Rugby World Cup and Aki's nomination for World Player Of The Year, the IRFU announced Aki had extended his central contract, keeping him at Connacht to 2025.

Aki was qualified to play for New Zealand, where he was born and raised, and Samoa, the country of origin of his parents.