THE SECOND COMING
RIEKO IOANE [BLUES]
One minute we were talking about Rieko Ioane being able to achieve whatever he wanted in the game if he stayed grounded, the next he was a bit part player for the All Blacks.
The story of Rieko Ioane so far is rise and fall. He shot into the professional game in 2016, playing for the Blues in between Olympic Sevens commitments and then made an impressive debut for the All Blacks later that year.
In 2017 he was World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year when he scored 10 tries from the All Blacks' left wing and then another 11 in 2018.
At 22, his future was almost too hard to imagine and then boom, it all blew up. His form left him in the second half of Super Rugby last year.
He was suddenly struggling to produce the electric bursts that set him apart. His physical approach had also disappeared and he was no longer bumping defenders or running over the top of them.
He had two quiet tests against South Africa and Australia in Perth and was dropped.
And as everyone knows, he barely featured
