Excited, but nervous.

Bundee Aki recently attended his first international camp with Ireland, and has admitted that it was a huge step up from provincial rugby.

Aki will be eligible for Ireland in time for the upcoming November internationals after finally deciding he would like to wear the famous green jersey and has revealed he was excited to attend the camp, but at the same time, nervous.

“I think everyone knew that I went to the camp recently and I was very excited, very nervous at the same time! When I got there I was meeting a different kind of people, group of lads…I was very excited to see how they do things and stuff like that. It was an eye opener, it’s a big step up from PRO (14) rugby and it was good, I enjoyed every moment of it,” Aki told Sky Sports.

“I enjoyed the challenges that were laid out. Obviously, you have to learn a lot of things, a lot of ‘learnings’, a lot of books! But look, I enjoyed it, I was very lucky to be in that first camp. There were a few of us (Connacht players) there so it was good, I just enjoyed every bit.”

Whether or not Aki makes Joe Schmidt’s squad come November remains to be seen. But if he continues his early season form, there’s absolutely no doubt he’ll be right up there.

You can watch Aki’s full interview with Graham Simmons here.