Italy’s Monti Ioane is ready to face Ireland in the Six Nations on Sunday with a smile on his face, but he almost retired from rugby before a World Cup call-up gave him a new lease of life .
The Australian-born winger joined Italian club Benetton in 2017, where Kieran Crowley is the manager. Jovan later became eligible to play for Italy and made his debut in 2020.
Crowley took over the national team the following year, but Ioan returned to Australia in 2022 due to mental health issues.
“Honestly, I was very close to retirement and it was a difficult time for me and I didn’t like rugby,” Ivan told Reuters. “When I got to Australia I lost a lot of confidence and I thought, maybe I don’t have confidence anymore.”
“Then Kieran called and said he was taking me to the World Cup. We had a great chat and he had faith in me and it rekindled that spark in me.”
Things didn’t immediately improve in Australia, but Ioan has no regrets about the decision he made.
“I loved my time in Italy but there were some things I wasn’t happy with, so I went back home to Australia for a week or two to clear my mind,” the 29-year-old said.
“I had some conversations with the Melbourne Rebels and ended up staying in Australia, but even at home it was one of the toughest times.
“What’s actually worse is that’s where I lost my passion and interest in sports, but if I could turn back time, I probably wouldn’t, just because there’s a lot of lessons that I haven’t learned yet.”
Crawley is no longer the Italy coach and his departure has been a heavy blow to Ioane, but new manager Gonzalo Quesada is a familiar face.
“I’m not going to lie, it was very emotional for myself because he (Crawley) was a guy who trusted me completely,” Ioan said.
“Kieran still believed in me when I came back to Australia and wasn’t playing my greatest rugby there. To be honest, if it had been any other coach, I wouldn’t have been in the World Cup squad.
“He supported me and I was able to do a job for him. When he was sacked it was difficult for me, but I do know Gonzalo.
“When I finished my studies I came to the Stade de France and he was the coach at the time, so I knew him well. It’s great to see how far I’ve come and to work with him again.”
crazy memories
Jovan’s brief time in France, where he joined Stade alongside his uncle and former Australia international Digby Jovan, was more of a learning process but also left him with some crazy memories , including a run-in with an NBA All-Star at a Paris nightclub. .
“I was going to the toilet, I’d had too much to drink and this guy started talking to me and I didn’t know what he was talking about. My uncle came over because he thought he wanted to cause trouble.
“They chatted for a while, and when we got back to our booth, someone asked us how we met Michael Jordan. Turns out, the guy we were talking to was Jordan.”
After all the ups and downs, Jovan was once again a regular for Italy and scored a late shot in last weekend’s 27-24 loss to England and was the under pressure for Italy in Dublin on Sunday. Find someone you can turn to.
“Whenever I feel stressed, I see it as an opportunity to move forward. When I’m not stressed, I start to panic,” Yoann said with a laugh.
Italy have four games left to win this year’s Champions League, starting with Ireland, and Ioane, now back in France to play with Lyon, is tired of nearly missing out.
“Our aim in the Six Nations was to get a win and we came very close against England,” Ioane said. “But against teams like Scotland and Wales, they know, maybe even France, they’re a bit injured now.
“Obviously Ireland will be tough but that doesn’t mean we’re going to go there and not try and win.
“At some point, we can’t continue to accept these failures.” Reuters