He made nine appearances for the side with five of these coming as starts, scoring three tries as they finished fourth in the Championship Division of the 2011 ITM Cup.

[18] With Counties promoted to the Premiership Division, he played in all ten of their regular season games in the 2013 ITM Cup, starting eight of these, as the team qualified for the play-offs on their return to the top flight.

[20] 2014 was Aki's final season with Counties, as it had been announced earlier in the year that he would be leaving New Zealand to join Irish side Connacht.

[21] In September 2012, it was announced that Aki had signed for reigning Super Rugby champions the Chiefs, having been part of the side's development set up previously.

He played in 13 of the side's 18 regular season games, starting 12 of these and scoring five tries, as Chiefs finished top of the table.

[25] This was Aki's final game for the Chiefs, as it had been announced earlier in the year that he would be moving to Irish side, Connacht.

This move made him the second Chiefs player in as many years to join Connacht, following the transfer of captain Craig Clarke the previous season.

[28] After signing, he declared: "I am truly grateful for the opportunity I have been given to represent both Connacht and Irish and am delighted to extend my IRFU contract".

[30] His decision to extend his contract came after much media speculation about what his future may hold after a disappointing 2019 Rugby World Cup.

[32] On 17 December 2024, after much speculation over his future, Aki has signed a one-year contract extension with Connacht and the IRFU until the end of the 2025–26 season.

[35][36][37][38] Parts of the media stated that he had no real connection with Ireland, was getting in the way of Irish talent going through the ranks, and questioned loyalty issues should Aki decide to move abroad after his contract was over thus ending his international career.

[44][45] Aki acknowledged the criticism, admitting that a big part of his motivation to move to Ireland was to play international rugby, and noted that he hoped that he could do the country proud with his on-field performance.

[46][47] Aki made his debut for Ireland in the 38–3 win against South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on 11 November 2017, playing the full 80 minutes.

[54] He started Ireland's opening game against Scotland, but was removed after only 20 minutes in the 27–3 win due to a head injury.

This injury caused him to miss the next game against hosts Japan,[55] which ended in a shock 19–12 defeat to leave Ireland in danger of elimination.

[60] Aki was banned for four games after receiving a red card for a high tackle on Billy Vunipola in Ireland's 32–18 win against England in the 2021 Six Nations Championship on 20 March.