I’d jump at the chance to play for the All Blacks - TJ Perenara

Black Rams Tokyo’s World Cup-winning scrum-half TJ Perenara would ‘jump at the chance’ to play for the All Blacks again as their injury crisis mounts heading into the final two rounds of the Rugby Championship.  

New Zealand’s Rugby Championship campaign has been blighted by a scrum-half injury crisis which has seen some members of the media and fans call for their current selection criteria to be relaxed in order to issue an SOS to former internationals such as Perenara and Toyota Verblitz’s Aaron Smith.

The latest number nine jersey incumbent Noah Hotham suffered a broken leg in the record 43-10 loss to the Springboks in Wellington on Saturday and has undergone surgery.

First-choice Cam Roigard and highly-capable deputy Cortez Ratima were both already on the sidelines through injury leaving Finlay Christie and Kyle Preston, who won his first cap in the 24-17 win against their arch-rivals a fortnight ago at Eden Park, as their two fully fit options at scrum-half.

All Blacks veteran Perenara last represented his country against Italy on the 2024 tour to Europe in what was seen as a send-off for him and centurion Sam Cane who plays for Japanese side Suntory Sungoliath.

The 33-year-old, who joined the Tokyo side in 2024 on a three-year deal which effectively ended his All Blacks career, took to Instagram to answer messages from fans about New Zealand’s deepening injury crisis.  

TJ scores against Saitama - Picture courtesy of JRLO

Perenara was an inspirational player and leader for his team last season as he played in all 18 games and captained Tabai Matson’s side who narrowly missed out on a play-off spot.

The long-time Hurricanes star, who is currently in pre-season training, discussed his availability for the All Blacks and the issues around eligibility.

“If given the opportunity to come back and play for the All Blacks I would jump at it,” said Perenara who has 89 caps for his country.

“I know the rules don’t allow it at the moment - which is fine - but it’s the team I love, it’s the team I still admire, I’d just about play for free if given the opportunity.

“We’ve got some really good nines in the country at the moment such as Finlay (Christie) and KP (Kyle Preston) and a few more boys playing ITM Cup at the moment who are killing it,” added the Porirua native who spent a season with Red Hurricanes Osaka in 2021.

The famed former leader of the haka, who renewed acquaintances last season with the likes of ex-teammate Aaron Smith and South Africa’s Faf de Klerk in Japan’s top-flight, highlighted the new and exciting crop of young scrum-halves his country is developing and hopes to see the injured players make a quick return to action.

“I want to acknowledge the boys who are injured at the moment, especially Noah, seeing him go down the other night was disheartening. You don’t want to see anyone get injured but someone whose just come back from injury to go down like that is just not nice. I wish all of those boys a speedy recovery and I can’t want to see them back at their best again.”

Perenara recently announced on Instagram that he is studying Japanese and took time out of his schedule to visit Shibuya International Rugby Club on Sunday to put some budding players through their paces at BST Nagasawa Sports Ground in Kawasaki.

Members of the Shibuya club’s Shogun (U13–U15) and Colts (U16–U18) teams enjoyed a special session with Perenara and his Black Rams teammates Toshiya Takahashi, Taichi Chiba and current Japan star Taira Main. 

Picture courtesy of Shibuya International Rugby Club

The training was focused on breakdown skills, handling, offloads and closed with a question and answer session before the League One quartet was presented with Shibuya Rugby backpacks and caps as a token of their gratitude for the memorable visit to the club.  

Perenara’s Black Rams will open their 2025-2026 season against Suntory Sungoliath on Saturday 13 December at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium. Perenara’s opposite number, Suntory’s new captain, will be his former All Blacks skipper Sam Cane.