Leinster need Rieko Ioane to benefit from his new surrounds

The New Zealand star will hope to hit the ground running in Dublin. 

SETTLING IN: Rieko Ioane at Leinster Rugby training at UCD this week. Pic: INPHO/Andrew Conan

Rieko Ioane had already been seven years with the Blues when he signed a four-year extension to keep him in Auckland until 2027. Stitched in to the lining of that deal was a clause facilitating a sabbatical abroad.

"It might get to a couple of years and I feel I need something new,” said the All Black at the time.

It didn’t sound like a top priority then. The Blues had already suffered 20 years without a Super Rugby title. He talked about the need to create a legacy, and the desire to break a drought that duly ended the following season.

An Auckland kid born and bred, he clearly felt that there was much more to come from him, and that he could achieve that close to home. He was 26 at the time, with 52 Test appearances behind him and almost twice that for his franchise.

“I’ve got levels to go to,” he predicted.

Ioane, described as a “world-class” talent by Leinster head coach Leo Cullen when his loan to the province was announced, arrived in Dublin this last week on the back of a dip in form that stretches back to his efforts in the famous black jersey last year.

All Black boss Scott Robertson has used him less and less, his only involvement on the recent northern tour coming on the last weekend against an understrength Wales in Cardiff after all the heaviest lifting had been done elsewhere and by others.

That form has to be a concern for Leinster so the hope will be that Ioane is energised by his new surroundings and replicate the ability that fans have seen for most of the last decade and, in Jamison Gibson Park’s case, even longer.

The Leinster and Ireland scrum-half was still in his early 20s when Ioane, still a schoolkid but possessing a raw speed that meant he instantly stood out, was brought in to train with the Blues senior squad.

“Crazy. Unheard of. It would be like someone playing Senior Cup [in Ireland] and coming to train with us, you know what I mean? It's not really a thing. Lads have got to bide their time and come through the sub-academy.” 

Now Gibson-Park is a witness to Ioane’s next new chapter and it’s one he has experienced having made the same move from New Zealand to Ireland. A “tricky process,” as he explained before a Champions Cup opener against Harlequins.

Named on the bench for this weekend’s game at the Aviva Stadium, Ioane will be expected to hit the ground running, and in a yet-to-be-confirmed role given he has uses at both outside-centre and on the wing.

The roll call of successful imports before him makes that clear.

Isa Nacewa’s influence on and off the park will probably never be topped in the Leinster dressing-room when it comes to overseas influences, but Jordie Barrett’s short stint last term was a useful if daunting template for the latest arrival to copy.

The brilliant and versatile back made his debut away to Bristol Bears at the dawn of last season’s Champions Cup and his impact off the bench helped transform a sticky task into a comfortable breeze after the break.

As settling in goes, that was impressive and Barrett was brilliant for the duration.

“He was pretty good, actually, thinking back,” said Gibson-Park. “But he's a bit of a rugby nerd, eh? So, I'm pretty sure he knew everyone in the room before he even got in there. He watches a lot of footy.” Ioane’s viewing habits aren’t a matter of public record but his profile online is.

His spat with Johnny Sexton at the end of the 2023 World Cup quarter-final, extended by the Irishman’s book and Ioane’s response on social media, was unusual only for the headlines and interest it generated globally.

Ioane has long been a man willing and able to push the envelope in terms of his opinions, most recently in June when, after shushing Chiefs fans in the wake of a Blues playoff win, he posted: ‘Should’ve killed me when you had the chance’.

The Crusaders did just that in the subsequent semi-final when ending the Blues’ title defence but their front row Codie Taylor had by then defended his Test teammate’s tendency to “stir the pot” and insisted there was no arrogance in it.

It would be interesting to know if Sexton, who spoke of the good “people” that Leinster had brought to the club in years gone by when asked last week about Ioane’s imminent arrival in Dublin, would agree but the priorities remain clear.

Do his stuff on the pitch this next seven months and Ioane’s utterances won't be an issue.