In summing up his career in New Zealand rugby, the word TJ Perenara kept coming back to was “work”.
Today, the 32-year-old halfback has confirmed he will be taking his talents outside of New Zealand after the 2024 season, inking a three-year deal to play in Japan from 2025 onwards.
As first reported by the Herald yesterday, the 32-year-old has committed his future to Japan where he spent a season playing in 2021.
It has been a career that Perenara said exceeded even his expectations.
“Something I’m really proud of in my career that I look back on and am really happy with is that I believe my potential probably wasn’t as high as others or my ability was as high as others, but I reckon I squeezed nearly everything I could out of what I could get,” Perenara said.
“I’m really proud of the work I put into my body, my game and my craft to play at a high level for such a long time, and the work I put into trying to reach as high as I could reach.
“I look back on my career and I’m content with the work I’ve put in.”
Perenara has been a stalwart since arriving on the scene, first for Wellington in 2010 then the Hurricanes in 2012, and earning 81 test caps for the All Blacks since his test debut in 2014, including a World Cup title in 2015. His 163 appearances for the Hurricanes make him the franchise’s most-capped player and he was a key cog in their maiden – and lone – Super Rugby title in 2016.
This year, Perenara looked to be back at his best and with seven tries in the 2024 season, ended the campaign as the competition’s all-time leading try scorer with 63 to his name. That return came after he battled back from two Achilles surgeries that sidelined him for 18 months, an arduous period in which he feared he would never play again, and saw him recalled to the All Blacks in a starting role.
Perenara was the form halfback in Super Rugby Pacific this season and could not be denied as the top choice to don the All Blacks’ No 9 jersey when their season began against England in early July.
He looks set to add to his time in the black jersey before heading overseas after being named in Scott Robertson’s 36-man squad for the Rugby Championship.
While the past couple of years has seen the emergence of several young halfbacks – with Cam Roigard and Cortez Ratima, both 23, and Noah Hotham, 21, all now capped All Blacks – Perenara said security for his family was the main driver in his signing the long-term Japan deal rather than competition in the position.
“I’m really confident in my ability and my ability to push other halfbacks in the country to be the best halfback that we’ve got,” Perenara said.
“We do have a lot of depth there but a big reason for us was security as a family. The opportunity to sign a three-year deal in Japan arose and we didn’t have three years here in New Zealand so for us that was a big factor.
“Then the scope of what my career looks like post-that as well is something we’ve been talking about, so the opportunity to go there, have these three years, hopefully do really well with the club and turn it into more, and then there are some steps after my playing career hopefully there as well.”
Perenara, who was offered a contract through to the end of 2026 by New Zealand Rugby, admitted he did consider staying in New Zealand and trying to make a run at earning selection for the 2027 World Cup squad, and had conversations with All Blacks coach Scott Robertson before making the decision.
Ultimately, he and his family decided the positives of the move to Japan made it an opportunity too good to pass up.
“Pushing for a World Cup opportunity was a big factor in wanting to stay, but that long-term security in Japan was something that was really exciting for us as a family. We’ve got two young kids, so that was important to us,” he said.
“The Japanese market isn’t an easy market to get into. I know the perception is that it is, but with a lot of players wanting to go there, timing is a really important thing and the timing of this opportunity to go to a club that hasn’t performed where they expect themselves to perform but has a player pool of really, really good players, the future of what we could do at that club is really exciting too.
“The World Cup did factor into it, but the timing and the opportunity outweighed that price.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
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