New Zealand star Rieko Ioane has stunningly joined Irish side Leinster next season, on sabbatical from the Blues.
Ioane has played for the Auckland-based Blues since 2016 and made his All Blacks debut the same year. The centre has gone on to score 37 tries in 81 international games since then.
Many senior All Blacks now have a sabbatical clause in their contract that allows them to skip one Super Rugby Pacific season to spend six months abroad and the 28-year-old has opted to exercise that from December 2025 to June 2026.
Ioane’s older brother Akira plays in Japan and although he received lucrative offers to join his sibling, he has instead opted to follow in the footsteps of fellow New Zealand centre Jordie Barrett, who is currently plying his club trade for Leinster as they chase a domestic and European double – having nilled both Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors in the past fortnight to reach the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.
The Blues announced the move in a post on social media which read: “120 game Blues veteran Rieko Ioane has taken up the sabbatical clause in his contract and will spend next season at Leinster. We will have him back in (the right) blue in 2027.”
Ioane’s move is particularly shocking given his ongoing feud with Ireland and Leinster legend Johnny Sexton.
The pair clashed following the All Blacks’ remarkable win over Ireland in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, with Sexton – who was playing his final game of international rugby – revealing what was said in his autobiography Obsessed, released last year.
“Don’t miss your flight home tomorrow,” Ioane is alleged to have said. “Enjoy retirement, you c***.”
Sexton went on to write: “So much for the All Blacks’ famous “no d********” policy. So much for their humility. I walk after Ioane and call him a fake-humble f*****. 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.”
The feud continued after Ioane was part of the All Blacks side that defeated Ireland in Dublin in November, despite Sexton having retired, as he took to Instagram to make a thinly-veiled dig at the former Irish fly half.
“Put that in the book,” Ioane wrote on Instagram alongside a joker emoji in a thinly-veiled dig at Sexton.
Sexton does not currently have an official role at Leinster, so he may not cross paths with Ioane, although he is one of province’s favourite sons and any interaction they do have will be fascinating,
For his part, Ioane is excited to don the famous blue jersey of the Dublin-based outfit.
Writing on Instagram, he said: “Whats up fam just wanted to announce, I’ll be heading to Leinster at the end of the year on a sabbatical break.
“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.”
