RIEKO IOANE
MAIN WEAPON >>SPEED
To say speed is Rieko Ioane’s weapon is a little misleading. It implies that he’s deadly quick and that’s the essence of his game – raw pace to beat defenders.
He is deadly quick, but he’s also 104kg and 1.93m so he’s a big man, too. He’s also agile, possesses great footwork and a natural eye for space. He is a classically gifted footballer with all the attributes to be something special.
“He can be anything he wants to be,” Steve Hansen said of him.
“There is no doubting that Rieko has a lot of talent – what we have to get Rieko to do is get a work ethic to match that talent and we will have ourselves a superstar.
“He just can’t be patchy, he needs to understand that he has to work seven days a week really hard at his game, and if he does that he will unleash a massive amount of talent and we will see a very good rugby player.”
In his two tests last year, Ioane was composed and active. He looked comfortable with the pace and intensity despite the fact he was only 19.
He got involved, got his hands on the ball and ran hard – which is what he was asked to do. He can defend with a bit of clout and with his height, he can offload round the back of the tackle and jump well for high balls.
He has played sevens at the Olympics and frankly Hansen appears to be right, Ioane can do anything he wants – something he hinted at in the opening round of Super Rugby when he scored a hat trick.
“I have always thought he was a centre, but he is a guy who can play on the wing and that allows us to give him a little bit of time to feel comfortable in the role,” says Hansen.
“On the end-of-year tour we gave him some time on the wing, but he came in and played in the midfield against France and did very well.”
STRIKE RATE He’s a test baby so the numbers don’t mean anything. The important thing with Ioane is that everyone can see that it makes sense to get the ball in his hands and see what he can do with it. He has shown with the Blues that he can finish from anywhere and has all the skills to beat multiple defenders.