Akira Ioane to leave Blues after iconic 10-year career
All Black Akira Ioane has revealed he is Japan-bound at the end of the 2024 season, drawing to an end an iconic Blues and New Zealand International career.
Ioane, 28, has now spent a decade with the Auckland Super Rugby club after coming through the ranks at Auckland Grammar School.
Akira and his brother Rieko made their mark on the international circuit initially in the All Blacks Sevens team, competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics but missing out on a medal.
With the Blues hosting the Brumbies in the semi-final this weekend, the knockout clash will potentially be Akiraās last home game in the Blues jersey.
The club shared a clip on social media late Sunday night revealing the Blues centurionās decision.
āIt means a lot, obviously Iām a born and bred Auckland boy and I never really thought about going anywhere else. This is home, it will always be home,ā Ioane said in the video.
āBut, at the end of the day Iāve had to make a hard decision and Iāve decided to leave the Blues at the end of this year.
āA tough decision, wasnāt easy. I just thought it was time. Iāve been here 10 years, since I was a young kid coming out of school. Itās something I never truly thought was possible, Iām truly grateful for the opportunity Iāve had.
āItās going to suck leaving, but on to what I think is bigger and better things for me and where I want to be, when I want to finish rugby.
āItās not just me and my partner I have to worry about, itās about making sure Iāve got the means to look after my family.
āThat was part of the decision to head to Japan and make the most of what I think is the back end of my career.
āIām still young but I want to be a part of his (Ioaneās sonās) life and I want to make sure that he has everything that we didnāt have growing up.
āThem before me is my mindset now.ā
Ioane took the time to thank all of his teammates, but in particular Jerome Kaino, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ofa Tuāungafasi, Steven Luatua and his brother Rieko.
In the next weeks we will farewell a legend of the club. The epitome of a Blues man. Hailing from up north and raised in central Auckland Aki bleeds nothing but Blue.
He will potentially play his last game in front of you in a thrilling semi final against the Brumbies on Fridayā¦ pic.twitter.com/ehF95E6TQJ
ā The Blues (@BluesRugbyTeam) June 9, 2024
While it appears Ioaneās days in the black jersey have come to an end, his 13 Maori All Blacks caps and 22 All Blacks Tests saw him produce some huge moments.
The move doesnāt necessarily spell the end of Ioaneās international career though, as the utility forward was born in Tokyo to a Samoan father.
For the Blues, while losing a club great is undeniably a mammoth loss, the club are well placed to absorb the departure thanks to names like Adrian Choat and Anton Segner offering huge potential in the No. 6 jersey.
āIn the next weeks we will farewell a legend of the club. The epitome of a Blues man,ā the club captioned the video.
āHailing from up north and raised in central Auckland Aki bleeds nothing but Blue. He will potentially play his last game in front of you in a thrilling semi final against the Brumbies on Friday night. Join us in celebrating Akiraās 10 years of dedication to this region.ā
Had all the attributes to succeed, Strength, speed to burn and skills an inside back would be proud of, could tackle, chipā¦ā¦.they shouldāve tried him at inside centre, he wouldāve been awesome.
Still not convinced Akira is a good player, especially at international level. Was never physically dominant in any of his clashes, and only plays well against physically smaller teams like USA, Japan, or Tonga
Playing very well this year and deserves this chance
We will now see the Japanese born Akira lining up for Eddies Brave Blossoms next year š
The call of the ATM league is not to be ignored.
Another wasted talent , should of been 6 for All Blacks in 2017 or 8 in 2018 ready for the 19 World Cup ā¦
Well done Akira on a great career so far, good luck with the rest.
Hope to see you on an International paddock this year.
Heāll dominate in Japan. Good move.
Very disappointing he never reached his potential in NZ. Could have been a special player.