Could Perenara be All Blacks’ answer for
TJ Perenara has history when it comes to being the All Blacks’ reserve No 10 at a World Cup tournament. Prior to the pool game against Georgia in Cardiff in 2015, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen surprisingly announced specialist halfback Perenara as bench cover for star first five-eighth Dan Carter.
It was unorthodox. Hansen wasn’t short of first-fives. There was no major injury crisis, as such. Colin Slade and Beauden Barrett were dinged up, recovering from a sore hamstring and whiplash respectively, but there was no suggestion they would
need to be shipped back to New Zealand.
Hansen knew the value of cutting your cloth from a squad of 31 players during a World Cup.
Rather than risk aggravating Slade and Barrett’s injuries, he told Perenara he was going to be employed as an emergency first-five and goal kicker – if required – for the week ahead. The experienced Aaron Smith started at halfback, with Tawera Kerr-Barlow providing specialist cover.
It wasn’t as if the All Blacks coaches had been blindsided prior to revealing their hand in Cardiff.
They had done their homework prior to the tournament; Perenara had been given a run at first-five during an inter-squad game in Auckland before the squad left for Britain.
He had previously played at No 10 when he attended Mana College in Porirua, and Hansen noted he had clocked up some minutes there for the New Zealand secondary schools team.
It transpired that Perenara never left the dugout as the All Blacks cruised to a 43-10 victory. But it’s always good to keep your insurance policy up to date, especially at a World Cup.
The All Blacks selectors won’t have forgotten this. Following the news that a serious knee injury to Damian McKenzie