All Blacks star set for shock departure despite battling back to make Scott Robertson’s first XV – report
TJ Perenara in action for the All Blacks.
TJ Perenara is set to announce a move to Japan over the coming days, according to a report, as he looks poised to end his international career.
The 32-year-old made his return to the Test arena in July, over 18 months after suffering a horrific Achilles rupture which ruled him out of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Although Perenara also got injured in his first match back for the All Blacks, going off at half-time after a clearout saw Scott Barrett land on his leg, the playmaker has been selected in the Rugby Championship squad.
He will remain available to head coach Scott Robertson for the rest of 2024, but New Zealand Herald are stating that it will be his final season in international rugby.
Last year, Perenara signed a two-year extension with New Zealand Rugby to remain in the country until the end of 2025, but the report indicates that the Japan switch will be long-term, rather than a sabbatical.
Big money
They have claimed that the scrum-half has signed a deal with Black Rams Tokyo as he looks to prioritise his family with the lucrative contracts on offer in Asia.
Should the deal be confirmed, it will be Perenara’s second stint in Japan after featuring for the NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes in 2021.
However, he has spent the majority of his career in New Zealand and with the Hurricanes, where he made his Super Rugby debut in 2012 as a 20-year-old.
Two years later, the half-back earned his first cap for the All Blacks and quickly became Aaron Smith’s reliable understudy for the national team.
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They became the best scrum-half double act in the game as Smith set the tone from the start and the Hurricanes star added impact as a replacement.
Perenara was part of the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning squad and continued to impress for New Zealand off the bench in the following years.
After Smith’s departure to Japan, the 32-year-old became Robertson’s starting half-back and he could well fill that role for the rest of 2024, but it appears as though he will forgo that opportunity heading into the 2027 World Cup.
Scrum-half depth
It could well be that a conversation with the All Blacks boss has prompted this decision, but that seems unlikely given the national team’s inexperience at scrum-half.
Although Robertson wants to bring through the younger players, with Cortez Ratima and Noah Hotham selected for the Rugby Championship, Perenara would have been the ideal guiding hand for the rookies over the next couple of years at least.
With Finlay Christie surprisingly omitted ahead of the upcoming southern hemisphere tournament, the other scrum-halves have just three caps between them.
Cam Roigard is another option and is thought of being Smith’s long-term heir, but he is currently injured and is also relatively callow at Test level.
