Glendale Raptors Adds Digby Ioane

The Glendale Raptors signed Digby Ioane for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. The 34-year-old center/wing is 5’10” and 205 lbs.

Digby was born in Wellington, New Zealand, but moved to Melbourne, Australia with his family when he was two. He played both rugby league and rugby union as a youth and represented Victoria in both Junior Victorian Rugby League and Union prior to his moving to Brisbane in 2002.

He attended St. John’s Regional College in Victoria and St. Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace in Brisbane where he played on the 1st XV for two years and for the Australian Schoolboys in 2002 and in 2003.

In 2004 he joined the Queensland Reds Academy and was selected to the Australian U19s and U21s in 2004 and the U21s again in 2005, going on the tour to France and the U.K. He also represented the U21s in 2006 at the World Championships in France where he was nominated as IRB U21 International Player of the Year.

In 2005 he played for Australia A against the French Barbarians and the following year against Fiji twice. He also played in 2008 in the Pacific Nations Cup.

In the 2006-2007 season, he played Super Rugby for Western Force. During the latter part of 2007, he played for the Melbourne Rebels in the Australian Rugby Championship and for the Queensland Reds from 2008-2013.

Digby moved to France in 2013 and played with Stade Francais in the French Top 14 through 2015. From 2015-2017 he spent playing for the Honda Heat in Japan’s Top League before switching to the Panasonic Wild Knights for 2017-2019. He also played in 2018 for the Brisbane Global Rugby Team.

Wallabies

He also made his Wallabies test debut in 2007 against Wales on June 2, 2007, in Brisbane, scoring a try. the last of his 35 tests was against the British & Irish Lions on June 22, 2013, in Brisbane. He also played in the 2011 Rugby World Cup and in the Rugby Championship in 2011-2012.