All Black Rieko Ioane stirs Irish pot again with post-win jibe

Midfielder Rieko Ioane has thrown a not-so-subtle jab at former Ireland captain Johnny Sexton after the All Blacks’ 23-13 win in Dublin on Friday night. Ioane played the entire 80 minutes as the New Zealanders recorded their first win at the Aviva Stadium in eight years.

Ioane and the All Blacks hadn’t played Ireland since last year’s thrilling quarter-final at Stade de France, which the New Zealanders won 28-24. That brought an end to Irish dreams of World Cup glory, and so too did the decorated rugby career of flyhalf Johnny Sexton.

That match was tense and nerve-wracking, and the drama didn’t stop at full-time as Sexton recently revealed. In his autobiography, the former Ireland skipper alleged Ioane had said, “Don’t miss your flight home tomorrow. Enjoy retirement, you c**t.”

It was a war of words that made headlines worldwide. Ioane hit back shortly after by sharing a picture of the pair, with the All Black positioning a joker card emoji above his head, a house emoji below Sexton, and accompanying the post with Zombie by The Cranberries.

Irish rugby writer Gerry Thornley said on SENZ before this week’s Test that, “Ioane is going to be the pantomime villain to end all pantomime villains.” There was always going to be an extra sense of feeling about this Test which already had the makings of a blockbuster battle.

With the All Blacks knocking Ireland off the top of the world rankings with a 10-point win, Ioane was interviewed post-game where he said, “Feelings were hurt, stuff was said but I’m just here to play footy and win games.” But soon after, Ioane had the last word.

“Put that in the book,” Ioane wrote on Instagram, with the joker card used once again to accompany this caption. The first picture on the carousel is Ioane standing above the All Blacks as he leads the haka, with the Irish standing opposite as they accepted the challenge.

That was the first time Ioane had led the All Blacks’ haka.

“I was obviously more nervous for the kaea role and leading that haka than I was about the game,” Ioane said on Sky Sport New Zealand’s post-match coverage.

“With such great leaders like TJ (Perenara), Codie (Taylor) to help me out, it came pretty comfortable and pretty easy tonight.

“… When it comes to game days, I don’t let the emotion dictate my week. I love the spectacle of rugby and what I can influence to create.

“Feelings were hurt, stuff was said but I’m just here to play footy and win games.”

Flyhalf Jack Crowley opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a penalty goal, but the visitors struck back through Damian McKenzie. The All Black knocked over three penalties from as many attempts, but then disaster struck as momentum swung in Ireland’s favour.

Jordie Barrett was sent to the sin bin in the 39^th minute, and Ireland responded by scoring 10 unanswered points, including a try to Josh van der Flier early in the second term. The Irish looked good on attack soon after, but their efforts were in vain.

McKenzie was instead next on the board, with the first five-eighth converting another three penalties before Will Jordan crossed for a decisive try. New Zealand’s defensive wall stood tall as they came home with a well-earned win.