'Fine-tuning those instinctive moments': Rieko Ioane outlines his work ons
An All Blacks debut at just 19 years of age was the beginning of something special for Rieko Ioane, who has racked up over 60 caps in the seven years since.
The speedster of course started out on the wing but having played centre in high school, Ioane was keen to get back into the midfield and did just that in 2020.
The transition hasn’t always been smooth sailing but with players like Ma’a Nonu, Tana Umaga and Sonny Bill Williams on hand to mentor him, Ioane soon settled into his new home in the No 13 jersey.
“I’ve had the GOATs of the midfield to work with,” Ioane told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “Those three in particular for a 13 who’s trying to establish himself, those three you can’t look past and they’ve helped me each in their own special way.”
Ioane has indeed established himself as the premier centre in the New Zealand setup, owning the 13 jersey under head coach Ian Foster.
The growing pains have been evident but the 26-year-old’s distribution skills have taken huge leaps over recent seasons and the voices of doubt over his transition have gradually faded away.
The work has been paying off and Ioane revealed just what that work looks like ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
“Obviously, there’s always areas you can get better at. Defensive tendencies are a big one and when you get into big moments or fatigue moments, that’s where your habits need to come into it.
“So it’s more that stuff, it’s not too many big things – although there is big parts of my game that I probably could work on – for me, it’s about fine-tuning those instinctive moments.
“So it’s not to tuck and carry now, it’s to draw and pass. It’s to slide and push in defence rather than just rush up and jam, and it’s getting more of those moments correct than not.
“That’s the way I see it, it’s those little moments becoming free-flowing because the centres that have gone before me, they’ve helped the game flow and their impact, although it might not be runaway tries or whatever, they’ve helped linking, they’ve made all their tackles, they’ve done all their core roles really well.
“I want to be able to do that with the flavour I bring to it.”
That flavour is characterised by explosive speed and X-factor, something that the All Blacks failed to unlock in their recent pummeling at the hands of the Springboks.
The backline got limited opportunities against rapid and well-executed line speed pressure from the South Africans.
The defence shut down the combination that has promised to be the future of the All Blacks midfield in Ioane and Jordie Barrett. Barett is also transitioning from being predominantly an outside back.
“I’ve had a couple of games now on the trot with Jordie, seeing what he brings and him bringing his best game to the backline and me also bringing mine is what we’ve probably struggled with.
“We both want the ball, both of our natural instincts are to carry and now it’s how we compliment the backline which is in a really nice spot and those selfless acts, they’re huge.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful 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.
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