Rieko Ioane's 'traditional' midfield work flying under the radar

The All Blacks midfield looks locked in for the Rugby World Cup and it’s two former outside backs donning the famous black 12 and 13 jerseys.

Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane clicked in their first outing just this time last year and have since provided the All Blacks backline with improved physicality along with the skillsets to execute Joe Schmidt and Ian Foster’s vision for the team’s attack.

After only 12 months of being a full-time professional inside centre, Barrett has found a home in the No 12 jersey and is singing Ioane’s praises as the two build what could be the next great midfield partnership.

“The great thing working with Rieko,” Barrett told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “He’s got a lot of speed and he can back that speed so it’s not too often he’ll get burnt.

“It’s moving every single week, we’re never going to be masters of our craft and different opposition offer different specials that teams will throw at us. We’ve just got to be really aware of it and look for cues and communicate really well. We’ve got a really big desire to get better every week.”

Ioane’s shift from the left wing has been contentious but the speedster’s instincts and feel for the game have developed to align with the demands of the position well.

The Rugby World Cup squad announced on Monday included just four midfielders, with David Havili and Anton Lienert-Brown joining Barrett and Ioane after injury-riddled 2023 seasons to date.

Lienert-Brown started in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in the No 13 jersey and his status as a specialist midfielder makes him the only one of this campaign’s four options not transitioning into the position from the outside backs; a fact that has prompted some traditional fans to call for his promotion to the starting unit.

But, when queried on what part of Ioane’s game doesn’t get enough credit, Barrett pointed to his partner’s traditional centre qualities.

“He does a lot of good, traditional midfield work; kick chase, I feel he’s one of the best midfielders in the world at wide breakdown work, particularly counter ruck and collision.

“Often if he’s in a wide collision, he’ll survive that collision quite well and then g0 through and put a lot of pressure on the opposition’s ruck and that’s invaluable for a defensive line, it gives you the ability to get set, come forward and be physical in the next one.

“A lot of that work, on TV I guess it’s hard to see because it’s always zoomed in but if you’re looking at a bit of analysis and you’re on laptops, you go to the wide view and you see the guys are working pretty hard and normally he’s one of them.”