Perenara takes swipe at Folau over anti-gay comments

ALL BLACK scrum-half TJ Perenara has joined compatriot Brad Weber in speaking out against the anti-gay comments made by Israel Folau.

Perenara took to Twitter to say he was 100 per cent against the comments made by the Waratahs and Wallabies star.

“I’d like to add my voice to the conversation currently taking place. As professional rugby players, whether we like it or not, we are role models for a lot of young people. Notably, young Maori and Pasifika people,” wrote the All Black.

“You don’t need to look far to know that young Maori/PI are overrepresented in youth suicide statistics and, as I understand it, even more so when you look to those who are part of the Rainbow community. Comments that cause further harm cannot be tolerated.

“Let it go on record that I am 100pc against the comments that were made by Israel. It was not OK to say that. It’s not an attitude I want to see in the game I love. There is no justification for such harmful comments.”

RELUCTANT

Folau, who is married to Silver Ferns netballer Maria Folau, has sparked uproar over his comment on Instagram last month that God’s plan for gay people was “Hell, unless they repent of their sins and turn to God”.

Players were reluctant to comment on the issue until Weber, a one-test All Black, broke the silence on Tuesday – tweeting that he was disgusted at the comments made by Folau.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Carnegie’s South African flanker Brandon Staples has been banned for four years after testing positive for three different steroids.

A urine sample the 20-year-old gave after a training session on August 9 last tested positive for de hydro ch lo rom ethyl testosterone, me tandie none and stanozolol. Staples claimed the adverse result was due to a nutritional drink he had consumed in South Africa while on holiday in May 2017, but an anti-doping panel has suspended him until September 6, 2021.