BACK WHEN JAMISON Gibson-Park was a young scrum-half trying to make his name at the Blues, word came through that a promising young talent would be joining the squad for training.
The memory stands out not only because of the career that player went on to forge for himself, but because the young man in question was still in school.
It was highly unusual for the Blues to drop a schoolboy into their training environment, but they could sense Rieko Ioane had something special about him.
“Crazy, unheard of,” Gibson-Park remembers. “It would be like someone playing senior cup and coming to train with us (at Leinster), 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 he didn’t go straight into the (team)… he could have actually, but yeah, he was kind of a little bit of an oddball I suppose in that respect.
“I can’t remember if he was in for a week or a day or whatever but he did speak to us and everyone was like, ‘What the hell?’ He was properly quick. That’s all I can remember, it was probably like 12 years ago now, so I’m probably making a bit of it up. But yeah, he was quick.”
Ioane joined Leinster from the Blues. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Ioane is now 28, a six-time Rugby Championship winner and closing in on 100 caps for the All Blacks. A long Blues career has been paused for a new adventure, landing in Dublin last week ahead of his short-term stay with Leinster.
Advertisement
He arrives to be greeted by high expectations. Like Jordie Barrett before him, Leinster hope Ioane can be the missing piece to ending the long wait for another Champions Cup title, with the province’s latest European mission launching at home to Harlequins tomorrow [KO 5.30pm].
“We’ve got plenty of work for him to get across on top of learning names and all that kind of stuff. I’ve been there before so it’s a tricky process. But so far so good.”
Naturally, it stirs up memories of Barrett’s impressive introduction this time last year. Like Ioane, the New Zealand centre landed in Leinster following the November internationals. He quickly got up to speed, making a game-changing contribution off the bench in his first outing, which came in Leinster’s opening Champions Cup pool game at Bristol.
“He was pretty good (at settling in), thinking back,” Gibson-Park says of Barrett.
“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. I don’t know whether Rieko might be the same, but Jordie settled in pretty well. So yeah, hopefully more of the same for Rieko.
“He’s been around a while now, he’s an experienced campaigner like Jordie, so he’s got plenty to add in terms of his attacking prowess I suppose, but as well, I would have always said this with Jordie, just having a fresh perspective, they see things a little bit differently in New Zealand maybe to us so that’s great.”
Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber is equally confident Ioane will hit the ground running in his new colours.
“You can just see he’s an 85 Test-capper,” says Nienaber.
He’s got quality, and you almost try say what you want and he snaps it immediately because he’s experienced.
“In Afrikaans they have a saying which means if a person has good understanding and experience, he only needs half a word to snap onto something. So you can see that he’s got 85 test caps for the All Blacks, he’s slotting in nicely. Will three days (training) be enough to get him to a place where he’ll he’s comfortable and confident (to play this weekend)? I don’t think he will be 100% confident, but fairly confident to perform.”
Ioane was left out of New Zealand's biggest games in November. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
Then there’s the question of where Leinster will use Ioane. He’s played nearly all of his rugby at outside centre over the last six seasons but started five games on the New Zealand wing over the summer, losing his place in the team come the bigger Test outings across the autumn window. Unusually for a marquee signing, Ioane arrives at Leinster with something of a point to prove. And there’s the small matter of his spicy history with Leinster legend Johnny Sexton.
“When we looked at a reel of him today, he was actually at school playing 10,” says Nienaber.
“I saw some clips in the Blues where he was wearing 12, so I think I think he’s such a person as well that wherever the club needs him, he will he will play and deliver.
“We’ll have to see but obviously where did he play majority of his games that we’ve seen (at 13)… I never knew he played 12 in his life, or 10 at the younger age, but the majority of games that I saw of him when I coached against him he played 13, and obviously when he came in as a youngster he played wing, so when I was coaching Springboks against them that that was his position.
“I think he would be comfortable playing wherever we need him.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
High expectations as Ioane goes straight into Leinster squad for Champions Cup opener
BACK WHEN JAMISON Gibson-Park was a young scrum-half trying to make his name at the Blues, word came through that a promising young talent would be joining the squad for training.
The memory stands out not only because of the career that player went on to forge for himself, but because the young man in question was still in school.
It was highly unusual for the Blues to drop a schoolboy into their training environment, but they could sense Rieko Ioane had something special about him.
“Crazy, unheard of,” Gibson-Park remembers. “It would be like someone playing senior cup and coming to train with us (at Leinster), 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 he didn’t go straight into the (team)… he could have actually, but yeah, he was kind of a little bit of an oddball I suppose in that respect.
“I can’t remember if he was in for a week or a day or whatever but he did speak to us and everyone was like, ‘What the hell?’ He was properly quick. That’s all I can remember, it was probably like 12 years ago now, so I’m probably making a bit of it up. But yeah, he was quick.”
Ioane is now 28, a six-time Rugby Championship winner and closing in on 100 caps for the All Blacks. A long Blues career has been paused for a new adventure, landing in Dublin last week ahead of his short-term stay with Leinster.
He arrives to be greeted by high expectations. Like Jordie Barrett before him, Leinster hope Ioane can be the missing piece to ending the long wait for another Champions Cup title, with the province’s latest European mission launching at home to Harlequins tomorrow [KO 5.30pm].
“We’ve got plenty of work for him to get across on top of learning names and all that kind of stuff. I’ve been there before so it’s a tricky process. But so far so good.”
Naturally, it stirs up memories of Barrett’s impressive introduction this time last year. Like Ioane, the New Zealand centre landed in Leinster following the November internationals. He quickly got up to speed, making a game-changing contribution off the bench in his first outing, which came in Leinster’s opening Champions Cup pool game at Bristol.
“He was pretty good (at settling in), thinking back,” Gibson-Park says of Barrett.
“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. I don’t know whether Rieko might be the same, but Jordie settled in pretty well. So yeah, hopefully more of the same for Rieko.
“He’s been around a while now, he’s an experienced campaigner like Jordie, so he’s got plenty to add in terms of his attacking prowess I suppose, but as well, I would have always said this with Jordie, just having a fresh perspective, they see things a little bit differently in New Zealand maybe to us so that’s great.”
Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber is equally confident Ioane will hit the ground running in his new colours.
“You can just see he’s an 85 Test-capper,” says Nienaber.
“In Afrikaans they have a saying which means if a person has good understanding and experience, he only needs half a word to snap onto something. So you can see that he’s got 85 test caps for the All Blacks, he’s slotting in nicely. Will three days (training) be enough to get him to a place where he’ll he’s comfortable and confident (to play this weekend)? I don’t think he will be 100% confident, but fairly confident to perform.”
Then there’s the question of where Leinster will use Ioane. He’s played nearly all of his rugby at outside centre over the last six seasons but started five games on the New Zealand wing over the summer, losing his place in the team come the bigger Test outings across the autumn window. Unusually for a marquee signing, Ioane arrives at Leinster with something of a point to prove. And there’s the small matter of his spicy history with Leinster legend Johnny Sexton.
A problem for another day. Ioane’s early priority will be to do his talking on the pitch as he settles into his new life at Leinster. He starts on the bench for tomorrow’s Champions Cup meeting with Harlequins [KO 5.30pm].
“When we looked at a reel of him today, he was actually at school playing 10,” says Nienaber.
“I saw some clips in the Blues where he was wearing 12, so I think I think he’s such a person as well that wherever the club needs him, he will he will play and deliver.
“We’ll have to see but obviously where did he play majority of his games that we’ve seen (at 13)… I never knew he played 12 in his life, or 10 at the younger age, but the majority of games that I saw of him when I coached against him he played 13, and obviously when he came in as a youngster he played wing, so when I was coaching Springboks against them that that was his position.
“I think he would be comfortable playing wherever we need him.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Jacques Nienaber jamison gibson-park Leinster New Signing rieko ionae Rugby