Akira Ioane becomes Ponsonby's 46th All Black

When Akira Ioane made his All Black debut against the French XV, he became the club’s 46th All Black and briefly extended Ponsonby’s advantage at the head of the list of most All Blacks from any club to two – until flanker Dillon Hunt joined him on the field moments later, giving Otago University its 45th national representative.

 

The Ioane brothers are the second sibling set from Ponsonby to both win All Black honours, after the Solomons of the 1930s. Like the Solomons, who were born in American Samoa (Frank) and Fiji (Dave), the Ioanes were also born in different countries as Akira first saw the light of day in Japan and Rieko in New Zealand.

 

Akira has been tipped for top honours since his schooldays, when he was a star at Auckland Grammar and, soon after leaving school, for the New Zealand Sevens team. He has made all the national teams going, joining a small group (Adrian Cashmore, Christian Cullen, Caleb Ralph, Dallas Seymour and John Timu are the only others in the club) to represent New Zealand at Schools, Colts, Sevens, Maori and All Black levels. Akira can also claim honours the others cannot, as he has represented New Zealand at sevens in both Commonwealth Games – which some of the others did – and Olympics, which none had the chance to. Short of winning Heartland XV honours, there’s not much left for him to achieve in terms of national teams represented.

 

He was the 53rd Auckland Grammar School Old Boy to make the All Blacks, extending that school’s lead over all its rivals, and the first Ponsonby player chosen as an All Black loose forward since Mark Brooke-Cowden just over 30 years ago.

 

Akira is All Black No 1166. His selection also completes a rare and possibly unique achievement for the family, as now both brothers as well as parents Eddie and Sandra are all international players in the 15-a-side game.

Silverdale 7's Tournament

Our Ponies 7's and U20's 7's team headed out to Silverdale United Rugby Football Club for their final tournament of 2017 on Saturday 18th November. Both teams did exceptionally well making the finals in both grade with the Premier Men winning and unfortunately the U20's losing narrowly!

Well done to all players and management!

Ponies 7's Results:

  • Mahurangi Won 24-7
  • Waitakere Won 26-5
  • QF's vs Manurewa Won 24-19
  • Semi vs Silverdale Won 31-26
  • Final v Northcote Won 26-21

U20's Results:

  • Northcote Won 24-5
  • Liston College Lost 12-22
  • Massey Won 17-12
  • Silverdale Won 33-5
  • Finals vs Massey Lost 19-26

Premier Management team for 2018

Ponsonby Rugby Club is happy to announce that for the 2018 season Pete Leulusoo, Kevin Senio and Tani Fuga will return as the Premier Coaches and Jess Jones as the Premier Team Manager. They have done an outstanding job as a management team so far and the club are confident in their ability to inspire and grow the team into a Shield-winning side.

Information regarding the Preseason programme in 2018 will be announced shortly. 

Premier Contacts:

 

 

 

Seniors Off Season Training Block

Ponsonby Rugby will be running a 3-week training block pre-Christmas for any and all Senior players (both Men and Women) wanting to kick-start their fitness for the 2018 season. Trainings will be inside Western Springs Stadium on the No. 1 field. Sessions start next Tuesday 21st November 6:15pm – 7:15pm and will be every Tuesday and Thursday from then on. Bring a water bottle and trainers.