Six months ago, Rieko Ioane was not sure he would wear the black jersey again. In July, a decade after becoming the eighth-youngest All Black in history, he was dropped from the squad for the first time in his career.
He is back, recalled into the expanded group for the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour of South Africa, and speaking after his return against the Stormers he did not pretend the doubt had not been there.
"Look, after the last two years, probably not so much," Ioane said when asked whether he had expected to be back. "I was a bit 50/50 on whether I would be, just based on all events that happened."
What changed was Ireland. Ioane spent a sabbatical season with Leinster after 10 years with Auckland Blues, and the distance did more than freshen his legs.
"But then I started to get that confidence back once I was playing in that crew. With my footy over there, I felt like I was at least good enough to be back in this environment one day."
Leinster signed him as a midfielder who could cover the wing and used him that way — 13 starts at 13, including the URC final, and three on the left wing in the Champions Cup playoffs. The relief, he said, was in the absence of a particular kind of noise.
"There wasn't too much expectation; nothing that I felt, really. Even in preparations for a game, I could see the boys that had been there a while, how much Leinster meant for them as a club, so it's just the internal expectations that you take on as well as the outside pressure that you can feel.
"Because there was no expectation, no pressure, no noise after games and all of that stuff that comes with rugby, I felt like I could just play my own footy and that's what I did."
The chapter before the sabbatical was the hard one. Ioane sits on 40 Test tries, eighth on the All Blacks list, but that strike rate fell away after his 2020 move to the midfield. He won the No.13 jersey, held it through the 2023 World Cup, then lost it last year when Scott Robertson shifted him back to the wing — a move plenty of pundits had wanted, and which lasted five games before Leroy Carter debuted and Caleb Clarke returned from injury.
"It's a tough one. At the time, I felt like I was just getting pushed out of position," Ioane said. "I was playing all midfield during Super Rugby, and regardless of whatever, I was sticking there. And there was no time for me to adapt to that wing role — it should have been easy enough, but my performances last year weren't good enough on the wing. I felt that.
"So, I struggled with that for a bit. As I said, the sabbatical came at a good time."
The door has opened wider this week. Clarke has flown home from South Africa for shoulder surgery after rupturing a tendon against the Sharks, New Zealand Rugby confirmed, with no injury replacement to be called in at this stage. Will Jordan has not played on tour because of a back problem. The wing depth on this trip now reads Jordan, Carter, Fehi Fineanganofo, Ioane, Josh Moorby and Emoni Narawa.
Assistant coach Tana Umaga has made clear the tour matches are auditions, not formalities. "Look, nothing's set in stone at this stage and everyone's got an opportunity," Umaga said. "If they want to play in Test matches against South Africa, then they have to put their best foot forward."
Ioane's NZR contract runs to 2027, keeping him eligible for the World Cup in Australia, and he says he wants to be there. He is also refusing to plan that far.
"I'm signed till '27. So hopefully I'm sticking around this team; I definitely want to be going to the World Cup. But there's a lot of rugby to be played in that time, and there's so many things that can happen.
"My immediate goal is just to enjoy this tour and make sure I'm playing good rugby [...] because I felt there were times throughout last year where I wasn't enjoying it. And that was showing up on the field.
