1
Redemption time: Why Ian Foster has restored Rieko Ioane to the wing for Bledisloe IV
Rieko Ioane, the pugnacious back whose error may have cost the All Blacks a win in the first Bledisloe Cup test, has earned the faith of coach Ian Foster and will start on the wing in the fourth clash against the Wallabies.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ioane started at centre in Wellington last month where he had a try disallowed after butchering the grounding of his trademark one-handed finish.
The 23-year-old has copped criticism for his supposedly arrogant display but has remained a favourite of Foster and the All Blacks selectors – even scoring a try last weekend using the same grounding style.
Ioane, an active user of social media, appears to have brushed off his gaffe and took to Instagram after the All Blacks’ thrashing of the Wallabies in Sydney to send a subtle message to his critics – writing “kind regards” alongside a photo of himself scoring the try.
Now Ioane gets an opportunity to start on the left wing on Saturday night, a position where he made his name for the All Blacks.
Foster, who refused to blame Ioane for his mistake in the first test, said he was impressed with what he’s seen from Ioane this season, in particular his performance coming off the bench on the wing last Saturday on his return from a hamstring injury.
“He’s looking fast again,” Foster said. “He’s strong after his little hamstring tweak. It’s kept him out of the second test but when he came on the wing in the third test – he went on the right wing – he looked quick and strong and I just love seeing him like that. It’s another opportunity for him to do that.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The All Blacks coach said he still likes Ioane at centre, but wanted to reward the form of Anton Lienert-Brown in the No 13 jersey.
“We know he’s a quality winger and we know he’s a quality centre. And he’ll get another opportunity there sometime. It’s not like we’ve moved on from him at centre but we really feel ALB has come in and played so well that with some of the other changes in the backline, I really wanted to keep ALB there because he’s probably been our form midfielder at the moment.”
“We’re just keeping reasonably open-minded with him (Ioane) about midfield and wing but the key thing is he’s good enough to play both,” Foster added.
Ioane will not be the only player getting an opportunity to show his worth, with four players set to make their test debut including Rieko’s brother Akira who will start at No 6. Meanwhile, winger Sevu Reece and midfielder Ngani Laumape also return to the starting side after long periods out of team.
ADVERTISEMENT
View this post on Instagram
Foster said he believes those new and returning players will slot into the side easily and hopes they continue the hard work they’ve shown so far.
“They bring energy just by their attitude when they get picked and just the enthusiasm they bring. The key thing is not to go and try and feel like you’ve got to be Superman.
“If you look through some of the names – Akira, Ngani coming back, Sevu having his first start for a while, and then you got the likes of Asafo [Aumua], Cullen [Grace] and Will [Jordan] – they’ve just really got to do what they’ve done to get there.
“They’ve learned a lot for the last three or four weeks on how we operate and I guess all we ask of them is to trust that and to trust their own skill set and then use their own intuition that they’ve developed over a number of years to just back themselves in the heat of the moment.
“That’s all we ask. Then we just work on bits and pieces after that. There’s always little errors that happen with every player, particularly with new players. But it is exciting to see them come in and get that opportunity and we’ve got a lot of faith in that whole group.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments