1
Winger Ioane completes rugby's full circle
By AAP
Monty Ioane will return to Australian rugby next season but not before playing against the Wallabies for his adopted Italy.
The winger, nephew to former Australian star Digby Ioane and cousin of current flanker Pete Samu, will line up for the Azzurri in Sunday's (AEDT) Test against the Wallabies in Florence.
The Melbourne-born talent was schooled in Brisbane and part of the Reds' development program before he headed to France.
A Top-14 debut as an 18-year-old for Stade Francais came before a move to New Zealand where he was recruited by current Wallabies coach Dave Rennie to join the Chiefs.
He didn't crack their Super Rugby team though, eventually shifting to Italy where he's played for Benetton since 2017.
Ioane severed his contract there in September on mental health grounds and will play for the Rebels in Super Rugby next season.
The 28-year-old was born in Melbourne to Samoan and Fijian parents but never played for either of those two nations nor Australia.
He qualified for Italy under World Rugby rules from before 2018 which allowed him to play for the Mediterranean nation after three years of residency.
Sunday's Test will be Ioane's first against his country of birth and he'll enter in form, scoring twice in the Azzurri's 49-17 win over Samoa last weekend.
Experienced loose forward Sebastian Negri and fullback Ange Capuozzo will both return from injury in Italy's starting line-up.
Niccolo Cannone replaces David Sisi in the second row in the other change.
ITALY:
15 Ange Capuozzo (Stade Toulousain, 5 Caps)
14 Pierre Bruno (Zebre Parma, 5 Caps)
13 Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby, 16 Caps)
12 Luca Morisi (London Irish, 37 Caps)
11 Montanna Ioane (Melbourne Rebels, 15 Caps)
10 Paolo Garbisi (Montpellier, 21 Caps)
9 Stephen Varney (Gloucester Rugby, 13 Caps)
8 Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 1 Cap)
7 Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby, 19 Caps) – Capitano
6 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 38 Caps)
5 Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 34 Caps)
4 Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 23 Caps)
3 Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby, 38 Caps)
2 Gianmarco Lucchesi (Benetton Rugby, 15 Caps)
1 Danilo Fischetti (London Irish, 23 Caps)
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Giacomo Nicotera (Benetton Rugby, 5 Caps)
17 Ivan Nemer (Benetton Rugby, 9 Caps)
18 Pietro Ceccarelli (Ca Brive, 22 Caps)
19 David Sisi (Zebre Parma, 25 Caps)
20 Toa Halafihi (Benetton Rugby, 8 Caps)
21 Alessandro Garbisi (Benetton Rugby, 2 Caps)
22 Tommaso Allan (Harlequins, 64 Caps)
23 Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby, 4 Caps)
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
3
Ex-Wallaby explains why All Blacks aren’t at ‘panic stations’
4
Leinster player ratings vs Connacht | 2024/25 URC
5
Latest Comments
Great post and spot on in your analysis about generations to develop African rugby. There’s a strong argument to say that pursuing the successful URC path they’re already on and getting the EPCR comps to do similar will provide a role model for African countries AND fund SA activities, such as the development tours to Arg you mention, to help grow African rugby in parallel.
Go to commentsThat's twice he has tried to run at forwards and got his butt kicked. This isn't school boy rugby anymore. Give the ball to the forwards to take up and manage your runners outside of you. Ask Pollard for advice on how, if you don't understand
Go to comments