Perenara excited to lead Māori
TJ Perenara is cherishing the chance to lead the Mā ori All Blacks at home in front of his whā nau in a special moment in the 30-year-old’s rugby career.
The 78-test halfback will skipper the team against Ireland at Sky Stadium in Wellington tonight after getting the nod ahead of cocaptain Brad Weber, and he is eyeing another major scalp after the Mā ori All Blacks beat the tourists 32-17 in the first encounter in Hamilton a fortnight ago.
‘‘I’m really excited,’’ Perenara said. ‘‘To be able to captain Te Kapa o Pango Māori at home in front of my whānau is something that I’m really looking forward to, and to be able to do it with my mate Weby will be really enjoyable.
‘‘There will be a few
[of my whānau] here tomorrow [on Tuesday].’’
Spirits will be high in the Ireland squad after their firstchoice team stunned an illdisciplined All Blacks 23-12 in Dunedin on Saturday to register their first win against the All Blacks in New Zealand.
Although it will be a largely different group of players the Mā ori All Blacks come up against, with Mack Hansen the only starter backing up, Perenara said they will need to lift their own game if they are to claim another win against the No 2 world-ranked nation.
‘‘They’re a physical team, they hold the ball for big portions of the game and I thought they defended really well for good passages as well, so we know we’ve got our hands full, but we’re looking forward to it.
‘‘We definitely want to grow on
what we did the other week but if we roll out exactly what we did then the Irish will be good enough to counter it.’’
After an impressive first up showing, Mā ori All Blacks coach Clayton McMillan has made few changes to the team that dispatched Ireland by scoring all four of their tries in the opening 40 minutes.
Hurricanes fullback Josh Moorby is the only debutant named in the starting XV but reserves Caleb Delany and Max Hicks also have the chance to make their first appearances after being included on the bench.
Perenara spent the Super Rugby Pacific season playing alongside Moorby at the Hurricanes and was excited to see the 23-year-old finisher get an opportunity to test himself on the international stage.
‘‘Josh is a quality player,’’ Perenara said. ‘‘The way he understands the game is exceptional for such a young professional and his work ethic off the ball.
‘‘I know he scored a bunch of tries for us at the ‘Canes, but a lot of them were out of possession and that shows how hard he’s willing to work off the bench.’’