Support From Lions’ ‘Sea Of Red’ Gave Aki Goosebumps

The result may not have gone the hosts’ way, but it was an unforgettable occasion nonetheless as the Lions played in Ireland for the first time and sold out the home of Irish Rugby with a capacity crowd of 51,700.

Having played at crowdless stadiums in South Africa four years ago due to Covid-19 restrictions, the colour and noise generated by the supporters clearly left a big impression on Aki, the scorer of the Lions’ opening try.

“It was unbelievable, I don’t think the fans fully understand how much it means to us,” he said afterwards. “As a group of players, being able to run out on that pitch and be able to see a sea of red is something phenomenal out there.

“I genuinely got goosebumps when I ran outside and saw the sea of red out there. Honestly it’s unbelievable. It’s actually unreal compared to what we had the last time, which was no fans.

“So, thanks to the fans for coming out and being able to support us. You can’t beat it, it’s always nice (to play in Dublin).

“To hear the fans sings ‘The Fields of Athenry’, it’s nice, and to be able to hear the loud cheers and everything. It just means a lot. To hear them shouting for us, it was lovely.”

Aki played six times during his maiden Lions tour in 2021, earning his chance in the number 12 jersey for the final Test against South Africa. Wearing that same shirt when Andy Farrell’s men open this summer’s series against Australia is his goal.

It was a solid night’s work from the Connacht and Ireland star against Argentina, as apart from his powerfully-finished 18th-minute score, he made seven tackles, including two dominant ones, won one turnover, and was a prominent figure in a Lions back-line with four debutants.

One of those newcomers was Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu, who teamed up with Aki in a fresh centre partnership. There was frustration from the latter as he felt they did not get the best out of themselves as a pairing, but there is confidence that it will come with more time together.

“I think we all know how Sione is as a player, he’s bloody class,” commented Aki. “I think the frustrating thing about me is I wasn’t able to connect well with him.

“He’s an unbelievable player, and there’s no excuse for it, you know, we’ve just got to get better as a partnership going forward.

“Whoever it is, Garry (Ringrose), Huwie (Jones), Elliot (Daly), whoever starts and comes on. As a unit and as a mini group, we’ve just got to make sure we gel together and we try and get that cohesiveness fairly quickly. We just need to be better.”

He added: “It’s actually been funny. Sione has been my roomie lately, and he snores a fair bit at the moment, so he keeps me up at night!

“No, he’s a great man. He speaks out loud which is good, because that’s what we need – him being himself. I just feed off him and he feeds off me, so it’s brilliant.

“We’ve just got to be better at it and keep learning together. The more we grow as a partnership and then as a group, it will only be better and beneficial for the group.”

The 2023 World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year nominee praised Argentina for pulling off a famous 28-24 win, with his departing Connacht team-mate, Santiago Cordero, chasing down Matias Moroni’s kick for the decisive try.

Aki and his Ireland colleague Tadhg Beirne both touched down as the Lions, with their maul earning a penalty try, recovered from a 21-10 half-time deficit to lead 24-21. However, the Pumas stunned them with an excellent 80-metre effort to take the spoils.

Farrell’s charges failed to turn some late pressure into points, but were not too downbeat as they can swiftly target next Saturday’s opener in Australia, against the Western Force, for an opening tour victory.

“We’re obviously disappointed. It wasn’t the result we were after. But I think, you know, full credit to Argentina. They’re a great side,” acknowledged Aki.

“We won’t take that away from them, they played unbelievably well. We have to learn quickly from here and bounce back quickly.

“There’s no better players in the world, in Europe, in this group here that can learn quickly from things that played out today on the pitch.

“I think you can feel the frustration and the deflation of the boys in the changing room. But look, we’ll just take it on the chin, and whatever the coaches are throwing at us, move on, learn, and then bounce back against another great outfit in the Western Force.”

Apart from lining out in the third Test against the Springboks, one of Aki’s best rugby memories from the last Lions tour was surging over from the back of a ruck for a try against the Sharks.

The 35-year-old added the second score of his Lions career last night at a ground he knows so well. Three Argentinian defenders could not stop him from 10 metres out, as he used a dummy to straighten up the attack before backing his strength to get him over the whitewash.

What made it even more special was that his wife Kayla and their children were watching on from the stands. He was pleased to get on the scoresheet, but enjoying a Dublin win with the Lions would have meant so much more.

Speaking about his try, Aki admitted: “I think the hard work was done by the front five there and the backs were there, I just got the ball and I was lucky enough to be able to cross the line.

“I think ‘Freemo’ (Tommy Freeman) was giving me a bit of grief about not passing to him! But, yeah, it’s always nice to cross the line. It would have been even better if we had got the win.”