'A lot more mature' - Josh Ioane delighted with Connacht call

Meet Josh Ioane.

You may remember him from such moments as, scoring a try 14 minutes into his Connacht debut against Munster three weeks ago.

Or perhaps you recall he was once capped by the All Blacks, good enough to line up for the Haka against Tonga in 2019 while with the Highlanders. Backing up Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo'unga is no mean feat.

Otherwise, if the name rings a bell, Ioane played against Ireland teams three times for Maori All Blacks and an All Blacks XV selection in 2022.

But here he is in Galway, enjoying life as a new father and working on his golf handicap.

As Connacht’s season came to an end last year at the RDS, and with JJ Hanrahan just a couple of months into a long-term recovery from a knee injury, the club were on the look-out for an out-half and there was speculation that one of four players from Leinster’s well-stocked reserves could go west.

Sam Prendergast, who could have linked up with brother and Connacht club captain, Cian, and Harry Byrne seemed the most likely but there was nothing doing on that front.

At the time, Pete Wilkins was non-committal but he had his eye on a 29-year-old at the Chiefs.

Ioane first caught the attention of Wilkins when the Connacht boss was on sojourn with the Ireland team on their 2022 tour of New Zealand, which included two games against the Maori.

"Previewing the Maori and then having the games to review as well, I could see what a quality player he was so when we were aware that he might be interested in a move to Europe we were pretty quick to jump on it," said Wilkins ahead of Saturday’s URC derby against Ulster in Belfast (8pm).

"He’s been on the radar for some time, it was just a matter of becoming a viable option in terms of desire to move and we’re delighted