Two months between the leak and the announcement, for a signing that no longer depended on the player or the club.
The Charente-Maritime club on Friday announced the arrival of Sione Ahio, a 25-year-old tighthead prop standing 1.85 m and weighing 120 kg, on a two-season deal until June 2028. He is due in La Rochelle next week.
An announcement waiting on a letter
The news was not new: it had leaked in L’Équipe in early July. Yet the club could confirm nothing for almost two months, for want of one administrative document. New Zealand Rugby had not issued the player’s release letter, without which he cannot be registered in his new league.
This is the mechanism set out in World Rugby’s Regulation 4: without international clearance, there is no registration and therefore no approved contract. The regulation only allows the home union to refuse it in two cases: a disciplinary suspension, or contractual obligations the player has not fulfilled. Nothing suggests either applied here, and the document eventually arrived.
La Rochelle’s signings
Ahio came through the classic New Zealand pathway: Liston College, then the Blues U20 in 2021, the New Zealand Under-20 side, and a first professional season with Auckland in the NPC that same year. Named in the provincial championship’s team of the season in 2023, he earned his first Super Rugby contract with the Chiefs in 2024.
| Season | Club | Competition | Games | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Auckland | NPC | 2 | 0 |
| 2022-23 | Auckland | NPC | 3 | 0 |
| 2023-24 | Auckland | NPC | 9 | 3 |
| 2023-24 | Chiefs | Super Rugby | 4 | 0 |
| 2024-25 | Auckland | NPC | 3 | 0 |
| 2024-25 | Chiefs | Super Rugby | 3 | 0 |
| 2025-26 | Chiefs | Super Rugby | 8 | 5 |
That makes 32 professional games, 15 of them in Super Rugby. Last season was the first in which he established himself: eight games for the Chiefs, five as a starter, after seven appearances without a single start over the two previous campaigns.
A position left bare
The signing fills a real gap. Uini Atonio, the long-time first choice in the position, no longer appears in La Rochelle’s squad for the 2026-2027 season, and his playing time had already collapsed before that: fifteen Top 14 games in 2024-2025, just three the following season.
La Rochelle wrap up their pre-season on Friday night against Munster at Marcel-Deflandre, before hosting Stade Toulousain on 6 September as the league resumes.
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