Former Ireland captain calls out Bundee Aki after ban for post-match abuse of ref

He has had his say.

According to the URC disciplinary panel, the 35-year-old 'engaged with the match official team after the game on several occasions in a manner which breached the Disciplinary Rules.'

The centre was also warned on multiple occasions during the game for comments towards referee Eoghan Cross.

He will now miss Connacht's game against Zebre this Saturday and the first three games of Ireland's Six Nations campaign.

The URC have released the following statement: "After considering all of the submissions, the Independent Committee deemed that the Player engaged with the match official team after the game on several occasions in a manner which breached the Disciplinary Rules.

"The Independent Committee concluded that the Player's behaviour constituted verbal abuse and disrespect of a Match Official(s) under the relevant Rules. In determining its sanction, the Independent Committee felt that a suspension of six (6) weeks was appropriate, with two of those weeks suspended.

"The Committee also recognised the Player’s full regret for his actions and was grateful for the approach that he took towards the proceedings. However, given the player’s previous disciplinary record (including incidents of a similar nature) and his lack of a plea in this case, the Independent Committee could not apply mitigation to the sanction."

Speaking with the BBC, former Ireland captain Rory Best criticised his former teammate for his actions.

He said: "You can't do that [disrespect a referee]. I'm a big fan of Bundee as a player and a person but when you're talking about refereeing, they're definitely a lot more under the spotlight because it's not just how they control the game now, it's how fast the game flows.

"If the game doesn't last 90-minutes-ish, it's the referee's fault, if they go to the TMO too often, it's their fault. Things are happening in a split-second so there's a lot of spotlight on them.

"Part of the values of the game and what makes rugby stand out above all other sports is that respect to the referee so if we're going to let that go, that's one part of our game, our history and future, that's broken away and then we can't stand on the soapbox that we love to stand on and go 'well, that wouldn't happen in a rugby match'.

"If we're going to let it happen, it will. I get as frustrated as anyone with refereeing decisions but they're humans trying to make the best decisions they can and there's so much spotlight, it's a really tricky position.

"The bottom line is from the values of the game, we need to protect them but without them you can't have the game either."