Happy in his work
The All Blacks midfield back talks life away from rugby and says his most satisfying moments come in the quiet moments in the sheds. Paul Cully reports.
All Blacks midfielder Rieko Ioane smiles broadly, looks at the ground and shakes his head when asked if his tight-knit group of lifetime friends – who live firmly outside the rugby bubble – give him grief about being a high-profile New Zealander.
‘‘You can’t do anything,’’ he says. ‘‘You offer to shout them dinner and they’re all like . . . and then when they shout you dinner they’re into me as well.’’
The image of Ioane, 25, being mercilessly teased by a group of mates is a million miles away from the high-stakes world of test rugby.
But it is telling that the Blues midfielder treasures those moments,
and understands the value in them.
In an interview at a Dunedin hotel this week, Ioane is very different from the public-facing image of a slightly flash type with a penchant for try celebrations.
There is happy talk about home life with partner Dione and their dog and two cats. There is an admission that as he gets older he takes the greatest satisfaction in the parts of his play that will be used in promotions. And there is an old-school appreciation of those quiet post-game moments in the dressing room.
‘‘That’s the best thing about rugby,’’ Ioane says, momentarily taking us on a little trip inside the All Blacks sheds. ‘‘You look around and there might be someone still catching their breath.
‘‘Someone else might be just bent over. It’s just about looking around and being able to look at each other knowing you did your job.
‘‘It’s about building those connections with the boys, those deep connections. It’s why so many of the boys stick around [in New Zealand].’’
Ioane has been doing his job. For the Blues and All Blacks, he has
started to develop a habit of making desperate defensive plays. He stopped at least one Irish try last week with his goalline defence, and Blues fans remember his try-saving effort against the Crusaders in Christchurch during Super Rugby Pacific.
Ioane suggests it’s a result of maturity. ‘‘As I’ve got older, I’ve come to realise the role of defence,’’ he says. ‘‘Perhaps earlier in my career, in its infancy, I didn’t see that as much.
‘‘But when you look at someone making a tackle, you don’t want to let them down. Or when you know your mate beside you is going to make that tackle, it’s a good feeling. It’s the stuff that will never make the highlights reels.’’ He also thinks the All Blacks’ long period on the road together last year created invisible ties that will bind that group of players together for years, perhaps decades. In fact, Ioane says he is now looking forward to getting on tour again this season.
In some ways, Ioane remains the archetypal modern player, with his love of gaming. He says he and his friends ‘‘lose themselves in that world’’, as a form of escape.
But it would be an error to equate that with frivolity. There has been a single-minded determination behind his shift from wing to centre. He has had to stand his ground at times.
‘‘I had to be quite stern with my coaches at Super Rugby,’’ he says. ‘‘But I knew that didn’t mean
‘‘When you know your mate beside you is going to make that tackle, it’s a good feeling. It’s the stuff that will never make the highlights reels.’’ Rieko Ioane
anything for the All Blacks. I knew that playing at No 13 for the Blues wouldn’t mean anything unless I played well.
‘‘But [Ian Foster] has been a good listener. He’s given me a lot of confidence at centre.’’
Foster appears to have slowly been won over. The head coach is on record as saying he initially saw Ioane as a winger who could cover centre, but Ioane is starting to accumulate tests in the No 13 jersey.
Competition from Jack Goodhue means that Ioane can take nothing for granted, but for now he knows exactly what he needs to do to hold on to the jersey he has fought for.