TJ Perenara: Making the most of his opportunities

TJ Perenara, even at only twenty years old, is capably filling the halfback slot left by Piri Weepu at the Hurricanes. Under normal circumstances a player like Perenara, whose full name is Thomas Tekanapu Rawakata Perenara, would have to fulfil a reasonable apprenticeship behind a much more senior player. However, TJ Perenara is part of a young group of players, particularly in the Hurricanes, taking New Zealand by storm. Many of these players were part of the victorious New Zealand Under 20s who dominated and won the 2011 U20 Junior World …

Ben Tameifuna: Young 138kg Leviathan Prop for the Chiefs All Blacks and Hawkes Bay Rugby Teams

As the 2012 Super Rugby tournament kicked off, critics lamented the lack of quality, depth and experience in the Chiefs tight five. When they lost their two starting props, Ben Afeaki and Toby Smith, to long term injury in the opening loss to the Highlanders, the feeling of inevitability was further exacerbated. No one, not even the Chiefs coaches or the young man himself would have predicted their saviour would have come in the ample form of Ben Tameifuna, a 138kg 20 year …

Brodie Retallick, giant young lock for Chiefs and All Black of the future

Brodie Retallick, the big Chiefs lock from Canterbury via the Hawkes Bay has been turning, or at 2.04 metres (6 foot, 8.5 inches), that should that be ‘tilting’ heads. At only 20, Retallick took to Super Rugby like a duck to water in his debut year, going onto make his test debut for the All Blacks, on the 9th of June against Ireland at Eden Park, in the first All Black test of the year. He is the second tallest player to ever play a …

Beauden Barrett, Rising Rugby Star for the Hurricanes

Beauden Barrett is rugby player for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Taranaki in the ITM Cup, New Zealand’s provincial rugby union competition. As of 2012 he has also been used as the third All Blacks first five, backing up Dan Carter and Aaron Cruden.

This Beauden Barrett profile was one of a series of Super Rugby Player Profiles as part of RugbyFix’s 2012 Super Rugby coverage. This series focuses on players who have either burst onto the professional scene this season, or come of age as a professional rugby player after …