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One-test All Black Josh Ioane one of two Otago players stood down for alcohol-related incident

(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

One-test All Blacks star Josh Ioane will sit out Otago’s Mitre 10 Cup clash against Northland on Friday after breaching team protocol.

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Both Ioane and All Blacks Sevens playmaker Vilimoni Koroi have been excluded from head coach Tom Donnelly’s side to play this weekend in what will be a significant blow in Otago’s quest for promotion into the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership.

Both Stuff and the Otago Daily Times have reported that the pair breached the team’s alcohol policy, with Stuff indicating both players turned up to training “in an unacceptable state”.

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First-five Ioane and fullback Koroi have subsequently lost their starting roles for this week’s match in Dunedin, with Donnelly declining to comment to the ODT about what exactly the duo had done.

With Koroi the squad’s back-up pivot, their exclusions from the side has forced Donnelly to dig deep into his side’s playing stocks, with new recruit Jono Hickey – normally a halfback – thrust into the No. 10 jersey this week.

He’ll be supported on the bench by Harrison Boyle and last year’s New Zealand Barbarians Schools star Giovanni Leituala, who is in line for his first-class debut.

Koroi’s place at fullback will be taken by captain Michael Collins, who shifts from second-five to the No. 15 jersey, with Matt Whaanga replacing the veteran utility back in the midfield.

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The disciplinary action comes just days after Ioane, widely-regarded as New Zealand’s third-choice first-five behind Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga, missed out on the 38-man All Blacks squad to travel to Australia for the upcoming Tri Nations.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old has been in fine form for Otago this season as he continued a string of solid performances for both the Highlanders towards the end of Super Rugby Aotearoa and the South Island in the North v South clash.

Similarly, 22-year-old Koroi has bolstered his credentials in the XV-man game after having made his name in sevens, and will join the Highlanders on a full-time basis next year after making his debut for the franchise in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Currently sitting in second-place on the Mitre 10 Cup Championship, denied first place only by points difference, victory over third-placed Northland would see them overtake Ranfurly Shield-holders Hawke’s Bay at the top of the standings.

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The Magpies, however, would have a chance to reclaim their top spot when the face bottom-ranked Manawatu later this weekend, while an away win for the Taniwha over Otago would see the two sides swap places inside the Championship’s top four.

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Tom 59 minutes ago
England player ratings vs South Africa | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

I'm not sure about the Earl incident. I recall him missing an important tackle but he's certainly a quick flanker. SB has him cover centre when doing 6-2, fortunately we've never had to see how that would play out.


I'm not getting on board I'm afraid. The fact that England are scoring tries and being competitive despite being so amazingly disorganised and managing to lose every match is even more frustrating. The players front up and make a good account of themselves physically but the defence since Felix Jones is so much less organised. Players are flying out the line all over the place, there is no cohesion at all... And the attack... Literally it's just Marcus Smith.. and a bit of Feyi Waboso. Almost every player in the backline has done nothing offensively because the structure just isn't there for it, there's nothing creative or innovative to challenge the defense. The last 20 mins against the Boks it was just runners on crash ball off the 9, over and over getting smashed behind the gainline and turned over. These players are capable of doing much better.


We did score tries under Eddie but the backs didn't create anything. It worked well for a while but when we no longer had a big pack with the likes of Haskell and the Vunipolas playing well, it stopped working very rapidly. Once we started losing the gainline and couldn't exert so much pressure through bullying, they suddenly all looked clueless and we finished 5th in consecutive six nations.


I'd love to be on board, I've watched every game for the last 15 years and what I see is just super frustrating. It's groundhog day. The same mistakes over and over and no sign of progress. They've pushed some good sides close in this series but there is no acknowledgement of the issues, they keep saying how close they are and they're a growing team etc... he's been in charge for 2 years and has hundreds of caps in the side. This will end poorly, he's not the right guy, but thank you for trying.

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