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Cape Town - Former Wallabies wing Digby Ioane confirmed that his stint with the Crusaders has ended after just one season with the Christchurch-based outfit.
The 32-year-old joined the Crusaders at the start of 2017 but was hampered by injuries and he made just nine appearances during their title-winning campaign.
He will stay with his Japanese Top League club, the Panasonic Wild Knights, for the 2017/2018 season.
"I'll miss my team-mates and all of the other people I met while I was there - there's some awesome young talent in the Crusaders' squad," Ioane told AAP.
"For me, at this stage of my playing career, I'm aware I'm much more likely to end up dealing with injuries at that Super Rugby level.
"It feels great to be injury-free and getting regular game time at the moment, so I know that this is the right thing for me."
Ioane, who played in 35 Tests for Australia, previously played for the Western Force and Reds in Super Rugby before joining Top 14 outfit Stade Français in 2013.
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson thanked Ioane for his services to the club.
"We loved having Digby in our environment this year and he brought all of the energy and charisma that we knew he would," he said.
