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All Blacks 'owe' Stephen Perofeta says head coach Ian Foster
By Sam Smith
Stephen Perofeta has been given the chance to extend his 50-second All Blacks career with selection in the squad to tour Europe this November.
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The All Blacks play Japan, Wales, Scotland and England across the four week tour which will give head coach Ian Foster the chance to experiment a little further after keeping the starting side largely the same during the Rugby Championship.
A lack of opportunities for All Blacks on the fringes has been a talking point this season, particularly for Blues fullback Stephen Perofeta, whose test debut came with less than a minute to go on the clock in the loss to Argentina in Christchurch.
Ian Foster said that he feels like they ‘owe’ Perofeta another chance to show what he has learned from being in the All Blacks environment, and essentially pencilled his name in to play Japan.
“Part of being in a team is that you don’t always get the opportunities for everyone,” Foster told Sky Sport NZ ‘s The Breakdown.
“Certainly with Stephen, we think he’s grown immensely through the last 4-5 months. We loved the way he’s gone about his work.
“The fact he hasn’t really got an opportunity was probably not a lot to do with him. Some of those early results put us under pressure to keep the combinations growing.
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“You’ll see his name pop up in the next test and we’ll try to give him another opportunity on tour.”
“He’s had 2-3 games back for Taranaki and that’s been good for him. It’s kept him in tune, but he’s a player with a big future.
“We really feel like we owe Stephen an opportunity to show what he’s learned.”
The selection of Perofeta in the touring squad meant that returning utility Damian McKenzie was picked for the All Blacks XV instead.
McKenzie was a chance to return into the All Blacks fold after returning to play in the National Provincial Championship with Waikato.
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You think?? Foster is lavishing it up with all the talent he has in the NZ stables to be thinking the way he is atm and tbh I’m not 100% confident of him
havent they done that already by taking him on tour ahead of mckenzie
Play Perofeta in the Japan and Scotland test matches.