Ioane, who left Otago after four years in the South and signed for the Sale Sharks on a short-term deal until the end of the season, ended up coming on for Sale in its crunch game against league leader Northampton Saints over the weekend.
Ioane had left New Zealand only five days ago, and it would have been understandable if he had been rusty and off the pace but he was included on the bench and made his way on to the field with 10 minutes to go.
By that time, Sale was up 20-7 over Northampton at home and Ioane was said to have made some typical barging runs near the end of the game to confirm the victory over the defending premiership champion.
It was a big win for Sale and lifted the side up to eighth place on what is a congested premiership table.
Ioane (25) will be looking to make a big impact for the Sale side as he eyes a spot in the Samoan World Cup squad.
He impressed for the Highlanders in the 2013 season but fell out of favour at the franchise last season as niggly injuries got in the way.
A desire to play for Samoa also threw a spanner in the works of re-signing with Otago for this coming year as the World Cup will be played at the same time as the ITM Cup in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, a couple of other Otago players who have made the trek overseas have had slow starts at their new clubs.
Openside flanker Hugh Blake has linked with Edinburgh but has been unable to force his way into the starting side over the Christmas break.
Blake has Scottish links and qualifies as a local player but Edinburgh has depth in the loose forwards and Blake has not been able to make the match-day 23-man squad in any game so far.
Midfield back Jayden Spence signed a deal to the end of the season with French club Bordeaux as injury cover at the French Top 14 side.
He has played two games for the club's under-23 side and also made the bench for last weekend's Top 14 game against Grenoble, which Bordeaux won easily.
Not having linked with the club at the start of the season has put his eligibility in question in the European Champions Cup games.
