Monty Ioane


Montanna Ioane is an Australian professional rugby union footballer playing for the Benetton Rugby in the Pro14. He previously played for Stade Français, Tasman Makos, and Bay of Plenty Steamers.

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. He moved to New Zealand joining the Bay of Plenty Steamers, but was immediately placed on loan to Tasman Makos for a season, for whom he made his ITM Cup début in August 2015. He returned to Bay of Plenty for the 2016 season.
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. He extended his contract with Benetton for a further two seasons until 2020. At the end of the contract, he renewed it until 2022, opening to a call by the Italian national team. 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. In July 2020, for the first time, he has been invited to take part to the Italian national team camp.

Personal life

Ioane is the nephew of Australian rugby player Digby Ioane.