Ioane starts shock Leinster spell after Sexton spat

During his first media engagement as a British and Irish Lions coach earlier this year, before the pre-tour game against Argentina in Dublin, Johnny Sexton held court for 30 minutes.

Much was covered, from the current battle for the Ireland 10 jersey, to his previous comments about Finn Russell and his coaching ambitions.

Before he departed, however, the final question for the former Ireland captain centred on his old foe Rieko Ioane, with whom Sexton had a heated exchange following the 2023 World Cup quarter-final in Paris.

Asked for his thoughts on Leinster's shock move for the New Zealand back, Sexton's response sparked uproarious laughter.

"Wow, save the best for last," smiled Sexton, one of Leinster's greatest players.

"I purchased my Munster season ticket last week, put it that way!"

While clearly tongue-in-cheek, Sexton's response still reflected the shock in Irish rugby circles in April when Leinster announced Ioane would join the club this month on a short-term deal until the end of the 2025-26 season.

In his 17-year professional career, Sexton's confrontational style earned him no shortage of enemies, but his rancorous run-in with Ioane after Ireland's 2023 World Cup quarter-final defeat - the fly-half's final game - clearly left a sour taste.

Reliving the expletive-filled interaction in his autobiography, published last year, Sexton claimed Ioane said "don't miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you [expletive]".

"So much for the All Blacks' famous 'no [expletive]' policy," wrote Sexton.

"So much for their humility. I walk after Ioane and call him a fake-humble [expletive].

"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."

Just weeks after the release of Sexton's book, Ioane decided to embrace his newfound villainy in Irish rugby by leading the All Blacks' haka for the first time before their victory over Ireland in Dublin.

After the game, he seized the opportunity to retort.

"Put that in the book," he posted on Instagram, accompanied by a photo of him leading the haka at Aviva Stadium.

Whether Ioane's contributions to the feud are viewed as disrespectful or harmless, few would have expected Irish rugby's pantomime villain picking Leinster for his next chapter.

If Ioane, 28, makes his Leinster debut as expected on Saturday, it will mark the start of an important period in his career after losing his place with the All Blacks.

Having switched from outside centre to left wing for New Zealand's Test series against France, he started the first three rounds of the Rugby Championship but was dropped for South Africa's visit to Wellington.

Ioane was also left out of Scott Robertson's matchday squads for the All Blacks' games against Ireland, Scotland and England.

While he made a try-scoring return to the line-up in a resounding win over Wales in Cardiff, it is a challenging juncture for a player who once had the rugby world at his feet.

Raised in a rugby family - his parents and older brother have all played at international level - Ioane broke through early, making his Super Rugby debut for the Blues a day after his 19th birthday in March 2016.

Before the year was out, he had represented New Zealand at the Olympics - in Sevens - and made a try-scoring 15s Test bow against Italy.

Blessed with blistering pace, the sight of Ioane scorching through teams from his left-wing position soon became commonplace.

He quickly established himself, starring against the British and Irish Lions in 2017 and scoring 10 tries across the All Blacks' triumphant Rugby Championship campaigns in 2017 and 2018.

Nominated for the World Rugby player of the year in '17 and '18, he was dropped before the 2019 World Cup.

Four years later, he figured more prominently in France, starting five of New Zealand's seven games including the final as they fell short against South Africa.

Fluctuating fortunes notwithstanding, his record of 38 tries in 88 caps is undeniable.

His character clearly made an early impression on Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber, who said Ioane's aura "smacks you in the face".

Nienaber, who came up against Ioane on several occasions during his time on South Africa's coaching ticket, is also confident he will slot into his defensive system at Leinster.

"You're kind of nervous, will they get to grips with the defence system and all of our systems, it will take time but you can see that there's quality," said Nienaber.

"There's a saying in Afrikaans - 'a goeie begrip het n halwe woord nodig' - which means you only need half a word for them to grab the whole concept because they are experienced at the high level."

Ioane, of course, will hope to emulate the impact of his long-time All Black centre partner Jordie Barrett, who shone during his spell at Leinster last season.

Barrett scored seven tries in 15 Leinster appearances and controversially started the Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton on the bench.

When asked about Ioane potentially matching Barrett, Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan said: "They're different people, different players.

"Jordie was great at being able to almost coach lads and see things from a different perspective because we've a lot of people who have grown up in the same system for the guts of 10 years and haven't seen an outside view on things.

"That's what RG [Snyman, South Africa international] and Rieko can bring to us, different ideas from different parts of the world and obviously at a top-class level."

Before their last-four exit to the Saints, Leinster lost three successive finals to French opposition (La Rochelle twice and Toulouse).

Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan played in all three and says Leinster are hoping to tap into Ioane's big-game experience in Europe this time around.

"He's a serious competitor. The things he's been able to achieve, the amount of experience he has, that competitive edge he has, if we can tap into that it would be brilliant," he added.

"You've seen over the years, every jersey he's pulled on, he's represented well and been a proper competitor. We're really excited to have him in the environment and looking forward to see what he can add."