Ryan Crotty looks ahead to the clash with Bundee Aki

All Blacks centre Ryan Crotty is relishing the opportunity to face Bundee Aki again. 

Crotty and Aki had their fair share of battles when Aki was donning Chiefs colours in New Zealand before joining Connacht in 2013.

“Yeah, they’ve got class players right throughout their backline,” began Crotty who is wary of the threat that Joe Schmidt’s side pose.

“They’re playing some great rugby at the moment and whichever one of the boys pulls on 12 or 13 we have to prepare pretty diligently.

“With Bundee it’s awesome to see him doing so well over here I remember playing against him Crusaders vs Chiefs and he was a great player back then and he’s just come on leaps and bounds since and it’s great to see him being given an opportunity.”

Crotty made a telling impact off the bench against England after he replaced Sonny Bill Williams in the 30th minute of the clash at Twickenham and is expected to start alongside Jack Goodhue this weekend. 

Aki will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to face the country of his birth and it’s a game that both Dane Coles and Ryan Crotty understand will be one of their toughest of the season.

“Yeah I think there’s a bit more intensity to the build-up of this game,” Crotty said

“If you look at Ireland since 2013 they’ve been a side that’s been on the rise and they deserve all the credit they get. We’ve had some previous matches that have been pretty close so they deserve all that respect. It’s going to be a good Test match.”

Full Story