BUNDEE AKI has admitted that the Lions have already fallen short of Andy Farrell’s tour targets.
The Lions depart for Australia on Saturday afternoon for nine matches Down Under, including the three-Test series against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
But their campaign got off to a disappointing start when they were defeated by Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.
Some former players and pundits suggested that the loss might not be the worst thing in the long run but Aki – who scored the first try for the 2025 Lions – was having none of it.
The Connacht star said: “Faz set out the aim for us to win every single game, so to be able to not come out with the result that we wanted in the first game, look, it’s just got to be one of those things where we learn quickly.
“You know Faz,. He gives it to us straight, there’s no mucking around or no hiding here, he just tells you how it is.
“We were obviously disappointed, it wasn’t the result we were after. But full credit to Argentina, they’re a great side, we won’t take that away from them. They played unbelievably well
“You can feel the frustration and deflation of the boys in the changing room. But look, we’ll just take it on the chin, whatever the coaches are throwing at us.
“We’ll move on, learn and bounce back against another great outfit in the Western Force.
“We’re adults, we’re old enough to be able to take it. There’s no point in trying to sulk about it, you’ve got to be able to take it on the chin and move on quickly as a group.”
Aki felt he should have linked up better with Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu and knows there will be no shortage of players looking to take his place in midfield.
He said: “To be able to pick from four different countries, you’ve obviously got to make sure you perform because every single player that’s been picked in the squad is to be able to do a job.
“And if you don’t deliver there are guys that are willing to put their hand up and be able to take that opportunity.
“We all know how Sione is as a player, he’s bloody class. The frustrating thing for me was I wasn’t able to connect well with him.
“He’s been my roomy lately. He snores a fair bit at the moment, so he keeps me up at night. But yeah, he’s a great man.
“He speaks out loud, which is good because that’s what we need, him being himself and I just feed off him and he feeds off me.
“He’s an unbelievable player and there’s no excuse, we’ve got to get better as a partnership going forward and whoever it is, Garry Ringrose, Huw Jones, Elliot Daly, as a unit we’ve got to make sure we gel together and try get that cohesiveness fairly quick because we need to be better.”
Aki admitted that he would have been in trouble with Tommy Freeman had he not been able to overpower three Argentines to score this try when the Northampton man was free on the outside.
He said: “The hard work was done by the front five there and the backs were there, I just got the ball and was lucky enough to be able to cross the line. I think Freemo was giving me a bit of grief there, I should have passed it to him.
“It’s always nice to cross the line but it would have been even better if we got the win.”
FAN-TASTIC SUPPORT
But he did appreciate the support from the crowd, particularly when the 2021 Tour took place during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “I don’t think the fans fully understand how much it means to us. As a group of players, to be able to walk out onto that pitch and 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. It’s unbelievable, it’s actually unreal compared to what we had the last time, which was no fans.
“Then to be able to hear them sing Fields of Athenry, it’s nice, and being able to hear the loud cheers and everything. It just means a lot.
“Compared to the last Lions tour we had where it was just empty and you could just hear yourself shouting, it’s quite nice to be able to hear the fans shouting for you, so it was lovely.”
