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NOLA Gold have signed flyhalf Rodney Iona on a two-year deal through the 2024 Major League Rugby season. The 31-year-old Samoa international arrives from Australia after playing 7 times including 4 starts for the Brumbies in the 2022 Super Rugby season.
Iona is a long-time professional who also made appearances for the Brumbies in 2014 and 2015. He moved to Europe in 2016 first with French club Béziers and then UE Santboiana in Spain. A two-year stint with the Western Force followed, and then a one-year contract with RFU Championship club Jersey.
In November of 2020 Iona was announced as a new signing by the Utah Warriors, but the Brumbies came calling and he instead spent the 2021 season on their training roster. He started two of Samoa’s three Pacific Nations Cup games in 2022 and now has 6 test caps.
It’s the first new signing confirmed by the Gold, in addition to Collegiate Draft picks Sebastiano Villani, Chase Jones, Trent Rogers, and Christian Olney. Iona succeeds Robbie Coleman in the starting flyhalf role. Coleman has returned to Australia after three seasons in New Orleans and most recently suited up for the Queanbeyan Whites in the ACT Premier Division.
