Report: La Rochelle find Uini Atonio successor in rising Chiefs powerhouse

Sione Ahio appears to be the eighth Chiefs player on his way out the door this offseason, with French publication L’Equipe reporting he is Top 14-bound on a two-year deal.

The 25-year-old is said to be La Rochelle’s hoped-for successor to Uini Atonio, who retired from the game after a heart attack in January. The 145 kg Atonio, who played 68 games for France and north of 300 for La Rochelle, leaves big boots to fill at his former club, leading to a patient search for his successor.

Ahio would arrive at the club having emerged as the Chiefs’ starting tighthead at the end of the recent Super Rugby Pacific season, having come off the bench in each of his seven Super Rugby games prior to the breakout 2026 campaign.

The 25-year-old is listed at 120 kg and 185 cm, and helped the Chiefs to a competition-best 96.8 per cent success rate at scrum time en route to another final appearance. The Auckland product was schooled at Liston College, less than an hour’s drive from Atonio’s Wesley College.

Should the deal be confirmed, Ahio will join a noteworthy group of players exiting the Chiefs.

Rising playmaker Josh Jacomb is headed for Jamie Joseph’s Highlanders, electric outside back Etene Nanai-Seturo is going to Clermont, fellow hot-stepper Liam Coombes-Fabling is off for Oyonnax, capped Wallaby Lalakai Foketi has been picked up by Ospreys, Xavier Roe has called time on his New Zealand career with a move to Sale, Reuben O’Neil has been lured west by the sunny beaches of Perth and the Western Force, and All Blacks enforcer Samipeni Finau has signed with Canon Eagles.