Leinster have made yet another stunning move by bringing in a second All Blacks centre with Rieko Ioane joining on a short-term sabbatical.
The New Zealand star will make the shock move at the end of the year and follows in the footsteps of Jordie Barrett, who is currently at the Irish province.
Barrett will depart Leinster at the conclusion of the campaign but he has effectively been replaced by Ioane, who will join after the All Blacks’ November series.
There were reports that the Dublin-based outfit were looking to bring in Springboks back Damian Willemse but, after that fell through, they have found their big-name addition for 2025/26.
‘Iconic team’
“What’s up fam just wanted to announce, I’ll be heading to Leinster at the end of the year on a sabbatical break,” Ioane wrote on Instagram.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to play in Ireland for an iconic team, grow my game and experience something different with my family.
“Will be back refreshed and ready to rock second half of 2026. Until then locked in with my blues brothers.”
Ioane has spent the entirety of his career at the Blues but he will now play his club rugby outside of New Zealand for the first time after agreeing a short-term deal with Leinster.
The 28-year-old will then head back home midway through 2026 as he looks towards to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
“120 game Blues veteran Rieko Ioane has taken up the sabbatical clause in his contract and will spend next season at Leinster,” the Blues wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“We will have him back in (the right) blue in 2027.
“Still got work to do this year.”
It is another massive statement of intent from the Irish giants, who have been boosted by the impact that Barrett has made since arriving in December.
He recently starred in the 52-0 thrashing of Glasgow Warriors and could well prove to be the key to finally securing the Champions Cup title after years of just missing out.
They will hope, and perhaps expect, that Ioane can repeat what his international team-mate has done while in Dublin.
Ioane’s history with Leinster and Ireland
It is, however, an intriguing switch given his history with Ireland following the 2027 Rugby World Cup controversy.
Ioane infamously had a run-in with Leinster legend Johnny Sexton after New Zealand’s 28-24 quarter-final victory.
The centre then doubled down after the issue was once again brought up following the release of Sexton’s autobiography last year.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/leinster-land-another-all-blacks-star-as-rieko-ioane-makes-stunning-move-to-replace-jordie-barrett
