International
Perenara relishing being back in the All Blacks
All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara may have had a career knockback after missing the call earlier in the year, but he was relishing his opportunity after joining the side in Edinburgh ahead of Monday’s Test against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Perenara never let his non-inclusion get him down. He understood it provided a chance to be involved in some teams he didn’t usually play in.
That included playing for the Māori All Blacks for the first time. Playing for his Norths club side, being coached by his father Thomas for the first time in a long time, and winning the Ranfurly Shield and Bunnings NPC title with the Wellington Lions.
Throughout it all, he went out to play and express himself and play a style of rugby he liked to play and being in winning environments was a boost.
But he said he was in the game for the journey, not the destination. That view was the product of maturity, and he remained grateful for everything professional rugby provided for him.
Life experience meant different things put rugby in perspective. Losing his All Blacks place this year was not the worst thing. He lost one of his best mates to a heart attack. Missing the All Blacks didn’t even compete with that, he said.
“As you get older, you go through life’s challenges, and it puts things in perspective.
“If you’re part of a team that plays well, you put yourself in a position to be called up into higher honours. If I wasn’t called back in, I was still enjoying the quality of football I was playing.
“I still want to improve and get better.”
Sharing Wellington’s Bunnings NPC triumph and winning and defending, the Ranfurly Shield meant the season had been special.
“With the squad we had, we knew we were good enough to be in contention if we played well. We didn’t start that well, but we knew with the experience in the group, and the talent within the young boys we had, if we could start clicking, we were going to give ourselves a good opportunity.
“We would have been disappointed if we weren’t battling for a championship at the backend of the season. To be in that position come playoffs, ranked first in our division, gave us a good run to the final.
“Three weeks out from the playoffs, we had that Ranfurly Shield challenge, then we had to defend it, and then we had to beat Counties Manukau [away] to secure the top spot. That gave us a good lead-in to the playoffs, so it was pretty much playoff games from that Ranfurly Shield game.
“The experiences we got as a group helped us. It was awesome to be part of a really good group of boys, and I look forward to some of those boys’ futures, not only in that jersey but in higher honours too.”
He cherished achieving what they did with some of his rugby mates like Julian Savea, Du’Plessis Kirifi and Billy Proctor.
The desire to play in next year’s Rugby World Cup was still burning, and he said it was something every rugby player aspired to do.
Playing Scotland, if selected, would be special. They had been playing well in recent years, and in their last two games against the All Blacks, the margins had been eight points and five, so playing in Edinburgh had been difficult.
“We understand the threats that they have. They’re a very good team both with and without the ball. We’re looking forward to the challenge. We know we played well against Wales but for us to be where we want to be we have to continue to improve.”
Restored to the side on the back of an impressive effort for the All Blacks XV against Ireland A, Perenara said it had been frustrating having to watch the All Blacks struggle during the earlier part of their programme.
Not being able to contribute by being in the environment was the biggest factor, whether that was in the playing XV or not.
“I love where this group has gotten to, I love where we’re heading to, so it was hard not being there, but I am excited about being here now.”
The All Blacks were also excited by what the Black Ferns have achieved in their Rugby World Cup.
“The growth in that team has been inspiring. I know they had some tough times last year, but they’ve come together, united, and they’ve grown so much.
“The footy they are playing is something we all can be proud of as New Zealanders and fans of rugby and we’re looking forward to seeing them go to battle at the weekend.”
Perenara said he would watch the women’s Rugby World Cup final and acknowledged Kendra Cocksedge’s last Test for the side.
“She’s a legend of the game, not only here in New Zealand but in world rugby. She can be proud of the impact she’s had on women’s rugby and on rugby itself. It will take a little for her to reflect on it to see how impactful she has been to the game of rugby and, especially, our young wāhine in New Zealand.
“The legacy she is going to leave is amazing. There’s going to be kids talking about her for a long time,” he said.
Content & Images from – New Zealand Rugby
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
Squad Update | Munster Prepare For All Blacks XV At Thomond
