Bundee Aki is continuing to rehab a hamstring issue and, along with fellow Ireland World Cup star Mack Hansen, will not be making Connacht's two-game trip to South Africa this week.

Hansen is recovering from an ankle injury, which he also returned to Galway with from France 2023, but the westerners will hope to have them back in action when the squad return - if not for the home URC tie with Leinster, then the start of the Champions Cup pool stages in December.

"Bundee and Mack are still rehabbing knocks that they brought home from the World Cup," confirmed Connacht boss Pete Wilkins, whose side face the bottom placed Sharks followed by table-toppers the Bulls on their travels.

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"Mack hopefully will be available after this South Africa trip, Bundee probably a couple of weeks after that.

"So they are not far away but they do need these three or four weeks to get their bodies right and as soon as they are right we look forward to welcoming them back.

"Bundee's had an ongoing hamstring issue that he’s had to manage but particularly with the exertions of the World Cup and this window after the World Cup that he needed to rest anyway, it’s a good time to try and get that right and get it as good as possible for the season to come."

On a more positive note, tighthead Finlay Bealham - the province's other World Cup veteran, who came off the bench in the quarter-final loss to New Zealand - returns to the fold as Connacht look to bounce back from their first defeat of the new campaign in Edinburgh in a close encounter at the weekend.

John Porch and Dave Heffernan have proved their fitness and make the flight. However prop Jack Aungier, who underwent a HIA on Saturday night, is also ruled out of the trip.

"He’ll do the HIA3 today and if he passes that, in theory he could be available for selection for the weekend but we’d be taking him waiting for an official sign-off later in the week," said Wilkins.

"So for Jack’s wellbeing and the certainty around our squad we’ll leave him behind to freshen up and we’ve got Leinster on our return on a short turnaround, so having a few of those bodies back here recharging probably isn’t a bad thing either. "

Connacht are in fifth place after opening up with three wins at home while, in contrast, the Sharks have no points to show from their early four-game trip to Ireland and Wales and Italy, where there were joyous scenes last weekend as Zebre edged them by two points.

"It would be nice," smiled Wilkins, when asked if Connacht's next opponents would leave their World Cup winning Springboks out of their squad for another week.

"Whether the Springboks are there or not they are a different beast at home and four weeks on the road is a long time for any team. They’ll have taken the learnings from that.

"I’ve no doubt they’ll have huge motivation playing at home again in local conditions. It will be a good test for us but we’ll be up for it and we’re looking forward to it."

Connacht travelling squad for Sharks and Bulls

Forwards: Finlay Bealham, Denis Buckley, Peter Dooley, Oisín Dowling, Dave Heffernan, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sam Illo, Sean Jansen, Joe Joyce, Tadgh McElroy, Darragh Murray, Niall Murray, Conor Oliver, Sean O’Brien, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Cian Prendergast, Dylan Tierney-Martin.

Backs: Caolin Blade, Jack Carty, Tom Farrell, Cathal Forde, JJ Hanrahan, David Hawkshaw, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tiernan O’Halloran, John Porch, Byron Ralston, Colm Reilly, Andrew Smith.