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Akira Ioane's mental health battle after All Blacks RWC snub
Perennial All Blacks prospect Akira Ioane has revealed his private battle with mental health after being omitted from the 2019 World Cup.
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Ioane, who made his representative debut for New Zealand as 19-year-old at the Wellington Sevens in 2014, has long been heralded as an elite prospect but has yet to make the leap to test level.
After a roller-coaster season with the Blues in 2019, former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen left Ioane out of the squad, citing his fitness and attitude as road-blocks to his inclusion.
“He’s a tired athlete. Did we see the best of him? I don’t think we did in Super Rugby and other people played particularly well and put themselves in front of him. We know what’s under the surface but we just need him to take ownership of that and turn up and say ‘I’m in’. Once he does that I’m sure he’ll get selected one day.”
The next time we saw Ioane in action was the Mitre 10 Cup, where the 24-year-old says he struggled to find the motivation to play. “In the Mitre 10 I had a little bit of time off and came back and wasn’t really enjoying rugby,” Ioane told Radio Sport in New Zealand.
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“It was one of those years where I wasn’t really enjoying it and over-doing it, trying too hard to impress the wrong people.”
At that point, Ioane took a break from rugby to reflect on what exactly may have been affecting his performance. “A lot of things built up over the years. It’s been real full-on for the last five years, you can see why people take breaks, mentally refresh.”
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Ioane realised that he had been giving undue weight to the opinions of fans and media, people who did not understand his life and journey and he needed to shut them out of his mind.
Perennial All Blacks prospect Akira Ioane has revealed his private battle with mental health after being omitted from the 2019 Rugby World Cup.https://t.co/d0hZ0nLysl
— nzherald (@nzherald) January 14, 2020
“People telling me stuff when I’m out in public… sort of got to me, so just not worrying about all the little stuff or the stuff that’s being said in the media… just shutting that out and sticking to what I know and what I’m good at.”
Having now made 50 appearances across five seasons of Super Rugby for the Blues, along with appearances for the national sevens side, the Maori All Blacks and one appearance for the All Blacks in a friendly game, Ioane has had a remarkable beginning to his career with few obstacles blocking his path to success.
However, a year of patchy form and his World Cup omission forced the athletic number eight to contend with a brand new set of trying situations that saw his mental health suffer.
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Generally, the writing has been on the wall for two years since the Lions tour. And the inability to develop Akira Ioane feels like a specific, collective NZ coaching failure.
— Nicola Lamb (@NicolaLamb3) October 27, 2019
“I’m just a dude who thought I could come in and it’d be good. I’m still young and I thought all this mental health awareness stuff was all rubbish… but it hits you pretty hard when you don’t know how to deal with certain outcomes that don’t go your way. It was a real eye-opener, so that’s what I’ve been working on.”
Ioane isn’t the only high-profile rugby player in New Zealand to talk about the mental rigours of being a professional athlete. All Blacks stars Anton Lienert-Brown, Liam Squire, Nehe Milner-Skudder, TJ Perenara and Ardie Savea have all gone public with their battles over the past two years.
In particular, Perenara shared a strikingly similar story to Ioane with NZME in late 2018. “If things disappointed me through injury, selection, poor performances or when I used to read media, I would bottle that and try and harden up and move on because I was told that’s what a man did.
"It takes a lot to be vulnerable, because how people react to your vulnerability is going to allow you to do it"
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen speaks powerfully about the importance of talking about mental health. #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/pckyHzDDyT
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 31, 2019
“I feel that took me to some darker spots throughout my career if I wasn’t playing well and not being able to express those feelings through to fear of shame, embarrassment is definitely not the right message to be sending.”
Former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith told NZME in November that looking after the national side’s mental health would be an essential consideration for incoming coach Ian Foster.
“There’s a conversation to be had around an environment that caters for mental health. I’ve read a lot of stuff around some of the players becoming vulnerable, dealing with mental health issues through opening up and talking every day to each other. I think more and more that’s something that has to be dealt with.”
Would a fresh start be best for the former All Black?https://t.co/2qI3dAXLDJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 13, 2020
Meanwhile, Ioane says he is in a good place ahead of the 2020 Super Rugby season and ready to reach a new level of performance for the Blues ahead of a hopeful call-up to higher honours.
“I’m enjoying myself, enjoying being back in the team environment and working hard for the boys and for the Blues.
“It’s little things that I had to work on last year, and I didn’t do that, so… this season I’ll step up and hopefully if I do get my chance, I’ll get my chance.”
– New Zealand Herald
WATCH: RugbyPass have made something truly special with the Barbarians rugby team
Comments on RugbyPass
I hope WRU cops a 12 month ban.
1 Go to commentsOuch. Pumped. Even Nohamba is a better flyhalf than Ford.
2 Go to commentsI hope Leinster’s proud of themselves fielding a poor team. They should decide if they’re all in or not.
2 Go to commentsJordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
30 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
6 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
27 Go to comments