Star rugby union winger Digby Ioane is on his way to the Queensland Reds next season, but is enjoying being back home and playing for the Melbourne Rebels in the Australian Rugby Championship.By Marc McGowan
RUGBY union champion Digby Ioane has come a long way since pulling on the boots as a junior for Endeavour Hills at Frog Hollow Reserve.
Ioane, 22, made his debut for the Wallabies against Wales in June after forging a successful career at Super 14 level for the Western Force and will be taking his high-speed act to the Queensland Reds next season.
But quite possibly the 179-centimetre winger’s most remarkable achievement occurred on Saturday.
Ioane is one of only a handful of ‘name’ players in the Melbourne Rebels line-up.
They are best described as a team of ‘misfits’ that have been cobbled together for the inaugural Australian Rugby Championship.
All the talk was about how much the Rebels would struggle in the new competition, but they made a mockery of the pre-match discussion by producing a 32-27 boilover against the highly fancied Canberra Vikings.
It sparked massive celebration and Ioane was thrilled to be a part of it.
“It was awesome. We shocked everyone – people thought we were going to lose, but we just boosted in the second half (and ran over them),” he said.
“They had 10 or 11 players from Super 14 and we had only three or four experienced players and the rest were club players from Sydney.”
Ioane believes enthusiasm was the key to Melbourne’s success.
“It was amazing that we won. We just got together in two weeks and we bonded so well and it was a team effort that won us the game,” he said.
“The good thing about having people from clubs is that they want to play and they’re hungry to play.
“They have an opportunity to get a contract to play at the highest level (Super 14) and it’s really good to have people like that that really want to play.”
The triumph also helped ease Ioane’s disappointment at missing out on the World Cup squad.
“Stuff happens – you just have to take it on the chin and try harder next time,” he said.
“I was disappointed, but then again you learn from it and I’m still young and it’s all about patience.”
While the Rebels may not top their first-up win, for Ioane, just being back in Victoria is a huge highlight.
“It’s good to be back. My mum and dad are here and it’s great to be a part of a Melbourne team after being raised here,” he said.
“I went to my nephews’ game (at Frog Hollow Reserve) two weeks ago and it was awesome.
“It was good to see the little kids running around and to be able to hang out with them.”
