TJ Perenara ‘driven’ by All Blacks recall as Scott Robertson’s scrum-half options reduce
All Blacks and Hurricanes scrum-half TJ Perenara.
Experienced scrum-half TJ Perenara insists that the thought of playing for the All Blacks again is “driving” him.
The Hurricanes star suffered a horrific Achilles injury in November 2022 that ruled him out for the entire 2023 season, which included the Rugby World Cup.
Perenara returned for the ‘Canes at the start of the current Super Rugby Pacific season, coming on against the Blues in early March, and has gone from strength-to-strength since then.
Following the unfortunate injury to Cam Roigard, the 32-year-old has become first choice at the Wellington outfit and has started three of their past four matches.
All Blacks options
With Aaron Smith effectively ending his All Blacks career after the World Cup by moving to Japan, Folau Fakatava still searching for his best form at the Highlanders and the defending champions Crusaders struggling in 2024, Perenara could be a key cog for the national team this year.
“Being away from the game, not being able to play for the ‘Canes and the All Blacks last year, was hard. It’s something I really wanted to do again,” the scrum-half told ESPN.
“I didn’t want to have my last year in New Zealand being injured, not being able to play for the teams I loved. I wanted to give myself an opportunity to play for those teams again and to have an impact winning in those environments.
“Every player in New Zealand has that same drive to play for the All Blacks. It’s the pinnacle of our game. To be amongst that team is something I’m striving to do.
“The last time I played for them was when I tore my Achilles unfortunately so getting back in the team is something that drives me.”
Finlay Christie started the season well for the Blues before Taufa Funaki took over and impressed after the All Black’s injury, while Cortez Ratima has taken his chance superbly at the Chiefs.
There are a few options for new head coach Scott Robertson but it would be hard to argue against a recall for Perenara, who remains one of the best half-back’s in New Zealand.
“I always had an expectation that I would come back and play well. I worked hard; I put a lot of time and effort into making sure I could do my job on the field,” the 32-year-old said.
“There’s always the unknown. Has the game changed? Is the way I want to play the game still going to be effective? There was always going to be a learning period at the start.
“Unfortunately we ended up losing Cam early in our season which gives me more minutes earlier than I or the coaching staff would’ve expected.
“Obviously I don’t want my mate to be injured, I’d love him to be playing. We were going out there to be the two best nines in the country but getting the opportunity to play big minutes has been awesome for me to be comfortable and confident.”
Family time
Perenara was on the sidelines for 16 months, something which obviously hurt the talented scrum-half, but there were benefits to being out of the sport.
“It was difficult not being able to play the game I love for so long but on the flipside I got to spend time with my whānau. My relationship with my wife and my daughter grew with that quality time together,” he added.
“Not having expectations on the immediate future in terms of playing was important. Understanding it was a big injury, things didn’t go perfectly the first time. Having goals to play footy straight away was always going to be difficult.
“I was still training to stay in condition for when I could come back but a lot of my life goals were around family and things I could control that had nothing to do with being on the field which was really helpful.”
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