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Supersonic wing Monty Ioane re-signs with Benetton
Azzurri winger Monty Ioane has ended any speculation of a move and re-signed with Benetton Rugby for a further two campaigns, keeping him in Treviso until the end of the 2024 season.
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The Australian-born speedster is the nephew of former Wallabies wing Digby Ioane and after representing the Queensland Reds’ academy, as well as Stade Francais and New Zealand provincial sides Tasman and Bay of Plenty, the 27-year-old relocated to Italy in late 2017.
After residing in Treviso for three years, Ioane made his test debut for the national Italian side in last year’s Autumn Nations Cup. The outside back played a further eight games for the Azzurri throughout 2021, starting on the wing in all five of Italy’s Six Nations matches and scoring tries against England and Wales.
Ioane also came within an inch of scoring a try against the All Blacks in November – but referee Karl Dickson jumped the gun and pulled play back for an NZ knock-on.
Since his arrival in Treviso, Ioane has notched up 80 appearances for Benetton and picked up 30 tries.
The supersonic winger was also named in the PRO14 ‘Dream Team’ for two straight seasons, 2018-19 and 2019-20. To date, Ioane is the only Benetton representative to accomplish the feat.
Benetton manager Antonio Pavanell emphasised how important it was to retain Ioane for the coming seasons, especially with a number of key players departing the club after being headhunted by larger European teams.
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“We are finally delighted to be able to announce the long-awaited extension of Monty Ioane,” said Pavanell. “This is an end-of-year gift that we make to our fans and partners who with passion and efforts do not cease to show their support despite the difficulties of the current period.
“As you have surely learned recently, several high-level clubs had come forward with the concrete intention of taking the player away from Treviso. The success of the negotiation was certainly determined both by the corporate project presented to Monty and by his desire to stay. In fact, his attachment to the shirt and the gratitude he showed towards Benetton Rugby meant that everything could be concluded in the best possible way.”
The likes of Paolo Garbisi and Tomaso Allan, who have both worn the No 10 shirt for the national side in recent seasons, departed Benetton ahead of the current season, with the former heading to Montpellier and the latter linking up with Harlequins.
'My dad called me before my first game and told me Digby called and was crying'
Freshly minted Azzurri @MontyIoane talks to @heagneyl 👨💻 about Wallaby Uncle Digby, his ink, why he converted to Islam and how an obsession with rugby led to @Federugby https://t.co/9VkM1JDEFV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 31, 2021
Ioane himself said that he couldn’t be happier to remain in the north of Italy.
“The decision to stay with Benetton Rugby was an easy one,” he said. “The whole club has been taking care of me and my family ever since we arrived, we couldn’t be happier than that.
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“I really feel privileged to have the possibility of being able to give back something to the club that gave me a chance and that has helped me to grow more over the years.”
Benetton are due to play Italian rivals Zebre on January 2, provided that Covid-19 doesn’t continue to disrupt the URC as it did over the Christmas weekend.
Comments on RugbyPass
South Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
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