Signed while still at Auckland Grammar School by Kirwan last year, the 17-year-old Ioane has been training along with his 19-year-old brother Akira at the franchise in the pre-season.
Rieko is set to make his Super Rugby debut next year. Akira, meanwhile, was recently signed as a full-time replacement for loose forward Peter Saili, who left abruptly for France last month.
"I thought he played really well -- he was brilliant," Kirwan said of Rieko's form in Wellington. "He has been with us up until he went to the sevens. He had the pre-season with us; he's a good boy, he's going to be really good but the one thing we have to be careful of is his [young] training age. We need to keep him in the gym and make sure that he keeps working on that.
"He's big, strong and fast. He's tall and a good athlete. He can step off both feet and has a good fend. He's in that Israel Folau, Sonny Bill Williams sort of mould."
The 1.89m Ioane, who plays in the midfield in 15s, scored two tries during New Zealand's 27-21 victory over England in Saturday night's final in Wellington; a performance which came as no surprise to Dave Askew who coached him for two seasons in the first XV at Auckland Grammar.
Ioane needed a dispensation to play at the world series sevens tournament and Askew said they had seen the makings of a great player during his time at school.
"For a long time we've always thought that he's got the goods; the speed, the power, the strength, the skillset and the right head on his shoulders," Askew said.
Playing in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the final could have overawed many but Askew said he watched with interest as Ioane, who turns 18 next month, helped New Zealand to their eighth title in Wellington.
"You're always a little bit nervous about how it's going to go for him but I wasn't surprised to see him respond like that at all," Askew said.
- Patrick McKendry and Daniel Richardson of NZME. News Service
