Monty Ioane

Montanna "Monty" Ioane (born 30 October 1994) is an Italian professional rugby union footballer playing for the Benetton Rugby in the Pro14.[1] He previously played for Stade Français, Tasman Makos, and Bay of Plenty Steamers.

Monty Ioane
Birth nameMontanna Ioane
Date of birth (1994-10-30) 30 October 1994
Place of birthMelbourne, Australia
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
Notable relative(s)Digby Ioane (uncle)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013–2015
2015
2016–2017
2017–		 Stade Français
Tasman Makos
Bay of Plenty Steamers
Benetton Rugby		 2
2
22
24		 (0)
(0)
(30)
(70)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2020− Italy

Rugby career

After spending time in the Queensland Reds academy, Ioane moved to France in 2013 to play for Stade Francais, making two first team appearances in the Top 14 during the 2014/15 season.[2] He moved to New Zealand joining the Bay of Plenty Steamers, but was immediately placed on loan to Tasman Makos for a season,[3] for whom he made his ITM Cup début in August 2015.[4] He returned to Bay of Plenty for the 2016 season.[5]

After two seasons with Bay of Plenty, Ioane returned to Europe for the northern hemisphere's 2017/18 season where he joined the Italian side Benetton Rugby.[6] He extended his contract with Benetton for a further two seasons until 2020.[7]

At the end of the contract, he renewed it until 2022, opening to a call by the Italian national team.[8] In fact, according to the World Rugby rules prior 2018, Ioane is eligible for the Azzurri from November 2020, after three years of residency in Italy.[9] In July 2020, for the first time, he has been invited to take part to the Italian national team camp.[10] From December 2020 he is also part of Italy squad. [11]

Personal life

Ioane is the nephew of Australian rugby player Digby Ioane.[12]

Iaone has two daughters with his girlfriend Melisa Dasci.[13] Iaone was born into a Catholic family but has stated he wasn't religious.[14] While in Italy, aged 25, Ioane converted to Islam in June 2020 after being inspired by Austrian MMA fighter Wilhelm Ott who had converted earlier in April during the COVID-19 lockdown.[15] Iaone described himself being in his room and "having a low point in [his] life", when he spoke to his partner Melisa, who was born Muslim, who "started talking about God" leading him to take an interest in studying religion. After Ott messaged him one day, the two met for dinner where he learned of how Ott had changed his life in a positive direction.[14]

References
  1. https://benettonrugby.it/team/ioane-monty/
  2. "La fiche de MONTY Ioane. Rugby - L'Equipe.fr". www.lequipe.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  3. "Player Profile - Monty Ioane". www.mako.nz. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  4. "Two rookie wingers set to make their NPC rugby debuts for Tasman". Stuff. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  5. "2016 Steamers Squad Announced". www.boprugby.co.nz. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  6. "ALTRO RINFORZO PER LA STAGIONE 2017/2018: DAI BAY OF PLANTY STEAMERS ARRIVA MONTY IOANE". benettonrugby.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  7. "Gran bella notizia per il Benetton Rugby: Monty Ioane ha rinnovato fino al 2020". TrevisoToday (in Italian). Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  8. "Benetton Rugby: prolungati i contratti di Monty Ioane e Jayden Hayward". Rugbymeet. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  9. "Benetton Rugby: prolungati i contratti di Monty Ioane e Jayden Hayward". Rugbymeet. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  10. "Nazionale italiana rugby: i convocati per il raduno di Parma". Onrugby. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  11. "ITALRUGBY, PROSEGUE LA PREPARAZIONE VERSO IL GALLES. CONVOCATO MONTY IOANE". Fir Rugby. 1 December 2020.
  12. "Digby Ioane's model nephew scores hattrick against Scarlets". RugbyPass. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  13. "Life in lockdown: Australian Monty Ioane's Italian story". ESPN.com. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  14. "'I really took it out on people if I had a bad game': Monty Ioane on converting to Islam, his dapper tattoos and uncle Digby's tears on his Italy debut". RugbyPass.com. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  15. "Atlet Rugbi Asal Australia Memeluk Islam Usai Dengar Cerita Wilhelm Ott" (in Indonesian). Okezone.com. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
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