Rieko Ioane wants more beefs, less boos as All Black anticipates Leinster reception

Rieko Ioane is still enjoying some residual banter of his public spat with Ireland great Johnny Sexton, speaking Tuesday on the reception he expects from Leinster fans once he touches down at his new club later this year.

The All Blacks‘ quarter-final win over Ireland in the 2023 Rugby World Cup was the ignition of Ioane and Sexton’s ‘beef’, with a remark from the midfielder postgame sitting sourly with the now-retired Ireland playmaker.

Sexton would go on to tell the tale of the exchange in his book, Obsessed: The Autobiography by Johnny Sexton.

Sexton wrote: “And as I stand there, hands on hips, staring in disbelief at [referee Wayne] Barnes, Rieko Ioane still comes up to me and tells me, “Get back ten metres.”

“Huh?

“Penalty,” he says. “Back ten.” And then, after Barnes blows the final whistle, he says, “Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you c….”

“So much for the All Blacks’ famous “no d…heads” policy. So much for their humility. I walk after Ioane and call him a fake-humble f…er. It doesn’t look great, me having a go at one of them just after we’ve lost. But I can’t be expected to ignore that.“

Some sly social media references and online hysteria later, the spat was largely put to rest, only for Ioane to indirectly write another chapter.

The 28-year-old exercised the sabbatical clause in his contract with New Zealand Rugby and signed with Sexton’s old club, Leinster, for the 2025/26 season. He was asked by the media on Tuesday what kind of reception he is expecting once in Leinster colours.

A breakaway try would be sure to heal some reluctant wounds, “hopefully, then we’ll get about 70/30,” Ioane laughed.

“For me, it’s more about just getting to the club and playing the best rugby with the boys, meeting new team-mates, something I haven’t done for about eight or nine years.”

While the former teenage sensation has established himself as the first-choice centre under consecutive All Blacks coaches, he says moments like 2025, where he and his Blues team haven’t exactly hit the ground running, are part of the journey.

“In terms of where I want to get to, we’re still building. As players, we see everything and headlines and whatnot, but that’s just all part of it.”

“I’ve been in years like this before. Coming into the season, it’s been different sorts of headlines.

“I’m happy as always, just that slow burn, slow build, and I just want the best I can to perform the best I can for my brothers, the Blues.”