Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinal: Brumbies v Hurricanes
Where: GIO Stadium, Canberra
When: Saturday, June 4, 9.45pm
Live coverage: Sky Sport 1, live updates on Stuff
All Blacks halfback T J Perenara doesn’t need a 150-match milestone or a duel with Brumbies veteran Nic White to motivate him for a Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinal in Canberra.
Perenara will lead the Hurricanes on to GIO Stadium on Saturday night as he becomes the first Hurricane to reach the 150-game mark.
But the 30-year-old said the milestone won’t be a major motivating factor – winning a “knockout footy’’ game meant more to him.
“I probably don’t reflect on [150 games] too much right now, I’m still in the moment,’’ Perenara said. Those reflections happen a little later on.
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James Worsfold/Getty Images
T J Perenara congratulates the Western Force’s retiring former Hurricanes and All Blacks lock Jeremy Thrush.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been 150 games, to be honest, but it’s cool. I’m looking forward to the quarterfinal aspect of it more than the 150 games.”
Perenara made his Super Rugby debut off the bench against the Stormers in South Africa in 2012 and scored a hat-trick in his first start against the Western Force in Perth two games later.
“That was a pretty cool experience. I think I had a total of two running metres for three tries. Jules [Savea] did the bunch of the work and just passed the ball on the line.’’
Perenara is just one of four Hurricanes remaining – alongside Julian and Ardie Savea and hooker Dane Coles – from the side that won the 2016 Super Rugby grand final.
He’ll pit his skills on Saturday against White, resuming a rivalry that stretches back 10 years.
Perenara said he has “a lot of respect for Nic as a man, as a father and a husband’’ as well as a player, but doesn’t “look at a match-up with another nine’’ as a key factor because halfbacks rarely “see much of each on the field, outside scrumtime’’.
“Everyone I play against, I just want to beat them, I don’t care what they’ve done how prestigious their career is or if it’s their first-ever game, my mindset against them is the same.”
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
TJ Perenara of the Hurricanes performs a haka before a game against the Melbourne Rebels in Wellington.
Perenara said he has “always cherished’’ the sudden-death nature of playoff games.
“Knockout footy is why you play the game. It’s an awesome time of the year, it’s why you do long pre-seasons and why you have a massive off-season to put yourself in a position to win championships, and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve got ourselves to the starting line of the playoffs, and we’re definitely cherishing it.”
Hurricanes head coach Jason Holland said his men were also “desperate to give ourselves all something to celebrate and to celebrate that with TJ afterwards.” That desperation was a measure of how much respect the side had for Perenara, a proud Tītahi Bay local.
The Brumbies will, equally, want to ensure four departing players extend their season a little longer. Backs Tom Banks and Len Ikitau and frontrowers Folau Fainga’a and Scott Sio are leaving Canberra after this campaign, taking 344 caps (141 of them belonging to Sio) with them.
Rob Valetini’s hamstring injury robs the Brumbies of a dynamic ball carrier, but both Holland and Perenara still expect a far bit of action in the inside channels with No 8 Pete Samu joined by flanker Luke Reimer and specialist lock Tom Hooper in the loose forward trio.
“They will try and get downhill a little bit,’’ Perenara said, “so we can expect a bit of confrontation there, which is a part of the game I enjoy.’’
Jason McCawley/Getty Images
Owen Franks, pictured against the Waratahs a fortnight ago, will start at tighthead prop for the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinal.
Holland said the Hurricanes weren’t reading too much into the Brumbies’ upset 32-22 defeat to Moana Pasifika last week, saying they had focused more on their own game and correcting some of the mistakes made in a 40-25 loss to the Brumbies in Canberra five weeks ago.
He has retained just one of his starting tight-five – lock James Blackwell – from that earlier encounter, but the Brumbies will also field an entirely different front row.
The clash between former All Blacks tighthead prop Owen Franks and longtime Wallabies loosehead James Slipper should be worth the admission price alone.
Teams
Hurricanes: Josh Moorby, Julian Savea, Billy Proctor, Jordie Barrett, Salesi Rayasi, Aidan Morgan, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea (captain), Du’Plessis Kirifi, Blake Gibson, Isaia Walker-Leawere, James Blackwell, Owen Franks, Dane Coles, Tevita Mafileo. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Tyrel Lomax, Caleb Delany, Brayden Iose, Jamie Booth, Ruben Love, Wes Goosen.
Brumbies: Tom Banks, Tom Wright, Len Ikitau, Irae Simone, Andy Muirhead, Noah Lolesio, Nic White, Pete Samu, Luke Reimer, Tom Hooper, Caderyn Neville, Darcy Swain, Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Fainga’a, James Slipper. Reserves: Lachlan Lonergan, Scott Sio, Sefo Kautai, Nick Frost, Rory Scott, Jahrome Brown, Ryan Lonergan, Ollie Sapsford.
