TJ Ioane (9 May 1989 in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

) is a

international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He plays as a flanker for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

on loan from

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Ioane moved from Samoa to New Zealand at 8 years old. He first played for Wellington College and then the

Old Boys University Old Boys University are a New Zealand rugby union club, who were the 2015 winners of the Wellington Rugby Football Union's premier club rugby grade, the Jubilee Cup. They were the first holders of the Hardham Cup in 1939 and won it most recently i ...

side.

Professional career

He had two seasons with the Highlanders in New Zealand from 2013, before he moved to the northern hemisphere. Ioane was signed by

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

in the summer of 2015. After three seasons with Sale, he was released by the club and picked up by London Irish in 2018. In October 2020, after two seasons with London Irish it was confirmed that Ioane would join

side

on loan. He made his competitive debut for the club against Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on 24 October 2020. He became Glasgow Warrior No. 316. In Glasgow's final league match against Benetton Treviso in the 2020-21 Pro14 season, Ioane won the Player of the Match award.

International career

In 2014 he was named in Samoa national team's squad for their

2014 European tour The 2014 European Tour was the sixth edition of the Race to Dubai and the 43rd season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972. The schedule comprised 49 tournaments counting for the Race to Dubai, including the four m ...

. He debuted in Samoa's second tour match, starting at #7 against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He has represented Samoa at the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. He is known for his high work rate. Domestically, he represented

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

. He made his provincial debut in 2009 and his strong performances saw him named in the squad for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

. He has international experience as well with the New Zealand schools side in 2007.

References

External links

itsrugby.co.uk profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioane, TJ 1989 births Living people Otago rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Sale Sharks players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Samoan rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Samoan emigrants to New Zealand People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Samoa international rugby union players Glasgow Warriors players Union Sportive Bressane players London Irish players Wellington rugby union players