Wallaby rugby winger Ioane rejects Japan offer

Wallaby winger Digby Ioane has knocked back a huge Japanese offer to sign an extended three-year deal with the Queensland Reds and the Australian Rugby Union, both unions said Monday. Ioane, 26, agreed to the long-term deal with Queensland and Australia following the Rugby World Cup and Australia’s tour to Britain and will remain contracted to the Super 15 champion Reds until the end of 2014. Ioane, who has 21 Test caps, reportedly received a AUS$1 million ($1.02 million) a season offer to play with Japanese club Kubota midway through this year's Super Rugby tournament. "We’ve been quietly confident Digby would remain in Queensland. He’s one of our most popular figures and he has the ability to change games with his enigmatic style of play," Reds coach Ewen McKenzie said. "Digby is a guy who gets a lot of touches every game. He always has the ball in his hands and he has a ridiculous number of game involvements. He gives us a real point of difference."