{"id":546521,"date":"2026-07-27T17:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/546521\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:16:16","slug":"why-rieko-ioane-needed-leinster-stint-after-finding-himself-in-a-rut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/546521\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Rieko Ioane needed Leinster stint after finding himself in a ‘rut’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published: 11 hours ago | 27 July 2026 02:11 EDT
Updated: 11 hours ago | 27 July 2026 02:12 EDT <\/p>\n

mens<\/p>\n

international<\/p>\n

New Zealand v Ireland \u2013 2026 Nations Championship Round 3 Auckland , New Zealand \u2013 18 July 2026; Rieko Ioane of New Zealand and Jamison Gibson-Park of Ireland after the 2026 Nations Championship Round 3 match between New Zealand and Ireland at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo By Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile via Getty Images) \"Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

88-Test All Black veteran Rieko Ioane has revealed part of the reason why he jetted off to Ireland<\/a> for a short-term sabbatical at Leinster.<\/p>\n

Ioane\u2019s return to the All Blacks<\/a> comes after a season-long move to Irish club Leinster, after spending most, if not all, of his career to date with the Blues<\/a> and Auckland.<\/p>\n

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie included the versatile outside-back in his 44-man squad to take on South Africa<\/a> in the upcoming Greatest Rivalry Tour, which starts next Friday against the Stormers<\/a> in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old last played for the All Blacks under former head coach Scott Robertson during 2025\u2019s end-of-year tour against Wales<\/a> in Cardiff.<\/p>\n

Opening up to media in Auckland<\/a> on Monday, Ioane explained the benefit of his short-term move, and expressed the need to get out of a comfortable environment with the Blues.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, look, it was super valuable. I think it was refreshing to be over there. You know, seeing different sides, playing some awesome rugby with an awesome bunch of boys,\u201d Ioane said after being named in the All Blacks squad for South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah, it\u2019s something that I felt I needed upon reflection coming back, and something that in terms of my footy and where I was at and where I\u2019m at now, it\u2019s probably one of the best things I could have done was going there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ioane, who\u2019s scored 39 tries for the All Blacks across his 88 Tests, said the different environment helped him get out of a \u201crut\u201d that he found himself in while in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, look, it wasn\u2019t so much learning different styles or anything, it\u2019s just more just like refreshing and seeing everything was brand new to me, a brand new team, playing brand new stadiums and different parts of the world, and I think that\u2019s what I felt was best for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was getting a bit same, same back home, and I found myself in a bit of a rut, just with everything to do with footy, and then going over there, I just felt that freedom again, and my footy, I felt like it was reflecting that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having only been in All Blacks camp for the Ireland Test during the July Nations Championship<\/a> window, Ioane already has felt a \u201cslight edge\u201d in camp under Rennie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably wouldn\u2019t be able to give too detailed an overview of it, just because it was so short. But by all accounts, as I said, probably the boys that have been in here for the whole time, they said that they could, and even coming in, I could sense a different sort of feel and edge around the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of hard to like precisely describe it, but it\u2019s been really good. Rennie demands excellence from the boys, and then you see straight after the game, he\u2019s laughing with everyone and whatnot.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s been a good balance; we know when to work hard and when we can switch off.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

South Africa <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New Zealand <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After spending the last year or so out of the starting side, Ioane still feels like he has the ambition to represent the All Blacks, and still has things to achieve in the black jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I think as I touched on, you don\u2019t want to just be a part of this team, you want to be pushing for a bit more, so yeah, definitely ambitious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely looking forward to putting my best efforts in the best sort of Rieko I can be; I\u2019ve still got lots to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ioane\u2019s name on the All Blacks\u2019 squad list for South Africa is under the outside-backs, something that now doesn\u2019t mean much to the 29-year-old, but maybe would have in years gone by.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, as I said, you know, coming back from [Ireland] I\u2019ve just been really refreshed mentally, and at times I was a bit stubborn, only wanted to be on the midfield, but I feel flexible enough that I can play both now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dropped a bit of weight and started running fast again. It\u2019s a good feeling. So yeah, I\u2019m happy on the wing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 11 hours ago | 27 July 2026 02:11 EDT Updated: 11 hours ago | 27 July 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-546521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}