IRFU set to break bank so Connacht can hold onto Bundee Aki

The Kiwi is set to join the elite club of Irish rugby earners.

The IRFU are eager to secure Bundee Aki's services up to and beyond the 2019 World Cup by offering him a lucrative, three-year deal. This would mean the union will be negotiating a contract renewal up to a year ahead of the player becoming eligible to play for Ireland. Aki arrived from New Zealand in October 2014. He is contracted to Connacht until July 2017 but is only able to play for Ireland from that years' series of November Tests. The union are keen to tie Aki to a new contract at Connacht to ward off any interest from English or French clubs. The case of Ben Te'o - three years at Leinster only to switch to Worcester Warriors and declare for England - looms large in their thinking. Joe Schmidt met up with Aki last week, after Connacht's Guinness PRO12 victory over Leinster. This is not the first time the pair have spoken about his Irish prospects but Schmidt did stress that he has concrete plans for the 26-year-old in his midfield. Schmidt is believed to have had similar conversations with two of Connacht's other Kiwis, hooker Tom McCartney and flanker Jake Heenan, but Aki is the priority case. The union will attempt to get Aki's signature on a new contract as soon as possible next season - October is the earliest he can sign a fresh contract. The centre is returning to Auckland for a couple of weeks but will return in plenty of time for pre-season in early July. Such is the interest in Aki that the IRFU will have to offer Aki the type of salary reserved for Ireland's top earners. Johnny sexton and Jamie Heaslip are on three-year deals worth between €550,000 and €600,000 so Aki's representatives will be seeking a deal of that magnitude.