TJ Perenara departure: The end of an era for the All Blacks, but what does it mean at scrum-half?

All Blacks veteran TJ Perenara has confirmed that he will be leaving New Zealand Rugby in 2025 to take up an offer in Japan Rugby League One.

The move signals the end of an era in so many ways as the greatest try-scorer in Super Rugby history leaves the competition and his beloved Hurricanes.

It also marks the end of a golden period of All Blacks scrum-halves with Perenara and Aaron Smith having ruled the role over the last decade, but now the time has come to pass over the mantle to the emerging talent.

Perenara will be remembered as an influential All Black who passionately wore the shirt and led the haka for his country, but what does his departure mean for the team?

Heir apparent

Perenara is the only experienced scrum-half currently in the squad which is why the news may come as a surprise, but Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson must have other plans for the All Blacks because surely he would have coaxed the veteran to stay longer as a mentor in the squad.

It could mean that Razor is banking on the injured Cam Roigard stepping up into the starting role when he returns from injury, which may only be after the Rugby Championship. The 23-year-old’s rise to Test rugby in 2023 was something to behold and resulted in a ticket to France for the Rugby World Cup.

The Hurricane takes after his mentor, Perenara, in that he is a prolific try scorer, but in Roigard’s case it is built more off his impressive turn of pace and ability to snipe around the rucks.

Roigard’s positional play is also outstanding and he is one of those players who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. The scrum-half has firmly grasped every Test chance he has been offered and he must be leading the race to replace Perenara next year – that is if the two new rookies don’t get there before him.

Rookie duo

The injury to Roigard and briefly Perenara, who missed two matches in July, forced Razor’s hand in blooding new half-back talent, but fortunately for the All Blacks coach he had some quality to call upon in Cortez Ratima and Noah Hotham.

Ratima is the older of the two but still only 23 and has really ramped up his game over the last two seasons with his 2024 campaign next to Damian McKenzie particularly impressive. Razor has already compared him to Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Ratima hit the ground running on the Test scene.

He has got it all from the fundamentals of great distribution and kicking game to the ability to string the attack together at a higher tempo. He will only get better and the more he plays with ‘DMac’ the better his chances of leapfrogging Roigard are.

Hotham is a bit more of a development selection having been unearthed by Razor at the Crusaders last year. The All Blacks coaching staff have already spoken about how they value his instinctive running game that was on show against Fiji. The scrum-half is only 21 but his quality is evident in how he never looks rushed and almost always seems to be clear in his decision-making.

These two rookies are exceptionally talented and if moulded correctly the All Blacks are going to have ridiculous depth at scrum-half come the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Rugby Championship: All four full squads ahead of the intriguing 2024 campaign

Left out but not forgotten

When Roigard got injured and Perenara was still making his return it seemed for all money that Finlay Christie would step up and take over. He did against England in the second Test but fast forward a couple of weeks and he has not even made the Rugby Championship squad.

The All Blacks coaches claim he is still in the mix and has been sent back to his club with some work-ons. We believe he will be back in contention at some point but it is a big statement from Razor and co. to dump a 20+ cap All Black for two young and relatively raw players.

Some past legends praised the coach for making his mark on the team and looking at the rise of Ratima and Hotham the decision makes absolute sense.

It may just be what Christie needs to regroup and see where his game is going, but he better not take too long because the talented rookies will smell blood in the water and will be desperate to seize their opportunity.

READ MORE: All Blacks: The ‘point of difference’ that proved decisive in rookie’s selection call