Rugby: TJ ready to step up

TJ Perenara will make his first start for the Hurricanes tonight. Photo / Hagen Hopkins.

Hurricanes fans will be given a glimpse into the future when TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett link up to form one of the youngest inside-back combinations in Super Rugby history against the Force in Perth tonight.

Perenara, 19, will make his first start for the franchise alongside Barrett, 20, who will register only his third run-on start in his seventh game.

Porirua-born Perenara, who made his provincial debut for Wellington while he was still at Mana College in 2010, has been earmarked as one for the future but few would have predicted he would have pulled on the No 9 jersey so early in the campaign.

He began the season third on the halfback depth chart for the Hurricanes, but a season-ending shoulder injury to veteran Chris Smylie has opened the door for Perenara to be given his chance ahead of Hawke's Bay's Chris Eaton against the winless Force.

Perenara came off the bench for the Hurricanes' opening two games of the season against the Stormers in Cape Town and the Lions in Johannesburg, but this would be a new challenge.

"I'm pretty excited,'' he said from Perth. "It's something that I've been working towards and striving to get, so I'm just really in the moment and looking forward to the game.

"To be honest in that first game I thought I wasn't relaxed enough and I thought coming out of that game I could've played a lot better. I think my performance against the Lions was a step up from my performance against the Stormers, as well. Chris has been playing well and he's a quality player so week in, week out you're fighting for a spot. When I got named in the starting team I was surprised that I got named because of the quality player that Chris is, but I'm still excited.''

Perenara, a World Cup winner with the New Zealand under-20s last year, said he set himself some lofty goals this season - one of which was to claim that starting halfback spot.

"For me, my goal has always been to start from the go. I know I'm not experienced, but for me and the way I've sort of been brought up, if I don't shoot as high as you want straight away then there's no real point doing it. So for me, I've always wanted to start.''

His combination with Barrett will be crucial to how the 10th-placed Hurricanes fare tomorrow, although Perenara admitted they hadn't spent a lot of time together on the field.

"I haven't played with him in nine and 10 except for the pre-season games, and from what we have done together I feel comfortable with him. Off the field we're good mates and we understand each other and how each other plays. So I'm more than comfortable playing inside Beauden.''

Tighthead prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen is another Hurricanes' rookie who will make his first start tomorrow following a reshuffle of the front row, which sees Ben May move to loosehead and Tristan Moran drop out of the 22, with Michael Bent joining the reserves.

Wing Julian Savea will also play his first game of the season, coming in for the injured Alapati Leiua, who has a hamstring complaint.

Force lock Nathan Sharpe will become the first man to play 150 Super Rugby games when the 34-year-old takes the field tomorrow, adding extra motivation for the home side, and openside flanker David Pocock will be tough to contain.

The Hurricanes have surprised many with their early-season play, and returning to New Zealand with two wins from their opening three games would be a fine achievement under second-year coach Mark Hammett.