TJ Perenara has his eyes on a place in the All Blacks. Photo: ©INPHO/Tom Maher, ©INPHO/Tom Maher
TJ Perenara wants his All Blacks spot back and he doesn't think the rise of Cam Roigard will stop him from getting it.
Perenara hasn't played since suffering a ruptured achilles in the All Blacks 25-25 draw will England at Twickenham in November last year.
He missed the entire 2023 season and will battle it out with World Cup All Black Roigard for the starting halfback spot at the Hurricanes when Super Rugby Pacific kicks off in 2024.
Perenara (31) is confident he and Roigard (23) can help each other impress new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson and he believes the pair have the chance to do something special at the Hurricanes.
"Cam and I, I think we have a very unique opportunity to be the best two nines in the country at one club, and have to have our dynamic working together. Whatever that looks like out on the field, I think is going to be important for us winning this competition."
Perenara said his achilles is back to about 70 percent fitness and he's confident it will be closer to 100 when the Hurricanes return to training early next month ahead of their first game of the 2024 Super Rugby season against the Western Force in Perth on 23 February.
Perenara suffered the injury playing against England in November 2022. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
He said he wants to start for the Hurricanes and is determined to get the No.9 jersey back, but he understands the challenge he will face from Roigard.
"Cam had a fantastic year ... He was one of the top performing No 9s in our country, and maybe the world."
Perenara hopes the competition between the pair will push them to new levels and increase their chances of making the All Blacks.
"I think a lot of people and a lot of media might try to shape this as a competitive thing against each other in a negative way. It will be competitive, both of us want to play big minutes, which is a good thing, but both of us also want the other person to be playing really well too. That's only healthy for us, for our club, to hopefully win this competition and go forward into different teams as well.
"If we can continue to grow and be the best two nines in the country, we'll give ourselves a really good opportunity to play together later in the year as well."
Following the departures of All Blacks veteran Aaron Smith and others such as Brad Weber, the All Blacks starting halfbacks spot would appear up for grabs.
Perenara, who has played 80 tests, is now the most capped No.9 in New Zealand.
Roigard, the Blues Finlay Christie, who was the All Blacks' third halfback at the World Cup, and the Highlanders Folau Fakatava are other players who will be fighting to be Robertson's first choice halfbacks.
Perenara knows he faces a battle to get back into the national side and to lock down the Hurricanes starting spot and he said he'll try and tick off plenty of smaller achievements along the way.
"I set my goals broad for a year, then I narrow them down to my short-term goals. For me now, my short-term goal is literally just to get back and do full-team training. When I come to that point and I'm team training and looking to start playing again, those goals start to adapt.
"To be an All Black you have to play good rugby. You have to be out on the field, you have to be having an impact on your team, and winning really helps too. All those elements will be a part of those goals and those standards."
Perenara said his family got him through the year spent on the sidelines and while he would rather not have suffered the injury, he said there was one major upside to some forced time off.
"The blessing in all of this is and not playing is the amount of time I've been able to spend with my wife and my daughter. I spent a lot of my daughter's early life overseas. We were away during Covid with the All Blacks and then I went to Japan and they came for about a month and then went home. She was nine or ten months and I'd only been in her life for three months and you don't ever really get that time back.
"But, being injured this year I almost have got that time back and I've been able to invest a lot more time into my relationship with my daughter and our relationship has grown and our bond is so much tighter than it would have been if I was out playing. Yes I'm disappointed I didn't get to play this year, but the trade-off is my relationship now with my daughter and I'll take that."
