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TJ Perenara issues reply to Foster over rumoured NRL switch

TJ Perenara against the Pumas last year (Getty Images)

All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara has had his say on events that occurred earlier this year, when reports emerged of a potential cross-code switch to NRL club, Sydney Roosters.

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The 29-year-old Perenara was this week named in the All Blacks squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship, having spent the first half of the year on sabbatical in Japan with Top League club NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes.

However, despite being named in Ian Foster’s squad, the All Blacks head coach this week expressed his skepticism of the motives behind Perenara’s actions.

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The panel of Ross Karl, James Parsons and Bryn Hall discuss all the action from around the world of rugby on this week’s episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.

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The panel of Ross Karl, James Parsons and Bryn Hall discuss all the action from around the world of rugby on this week’s episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.

Foster stated that he felt as though Perenara had used interest from potential NRL clubs as simply a negotiation tactic with New Zealand Rugby.

Certainly when news broke of the potential move, there seemed to be plenty of intrigue and interest from fans, pundits and players of both codes, particularly given Perenara’s achievements in union – a Super Ruby champion, World Cup winner and one of Super Rugby’s all time top try scorers.

Yet having eventually recommitted to NZR in May, Perenara found himself back among the All Blacks ranks after missing out on the Steinlager series against Tonga and Fiji.

Foster aired his thoughts earlier in the week stating that he “didn’t really know whether Perenara was serious with the NRL or not” and that he “wasn’t personally over-impressed that [it had] played out publicly.”

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“That’s all part of the negotiation ploy, I guess,” Foster said.

Perenara however has rejected Foster’s claims of ‘leverage’ explaining that time and considerable thought had gone into his eventual decision.

“We were genuine in all discussions, it wasn’t a ploy,” Perenara insisted. “The decision to come back to New Zealand was a really tough decision because of how close we were to going to the NRL and back to Japan.”

Perenara will now have his mind firmly set on quickly integrating back into the All Blacks environment ahead of the first Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia on 7th August.

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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