TJ Perenara
rugby player
Thomas Tekanapu Rawakata Perenara (born 23 January 1992), commonly known as TJ Perenara, is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a half-back for the Black Rams Tokyo in the Japan Rugby League One. He has previously played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Wellington in the Bunnings NPC. Perenara is the most capped Hurricane of all time with 163 caps. Perenara made his international debut for New Zealand in 2014 and played in 89 test matches until the end of his All Black career in 2024.
Early life and family
Perenara was born in Porirua, New Zealand, and grew up in the suburb of Titahi Bay.
He has two older sisters, Jessica Paul (eldest), and Eden Perenara. His father, Thomas (whose father hails from Matatā), played for the Junior Kiwis in 1987 and in the New Zealand Softball Team (Black Sox) from 1987 to 1996. His mother Fiona (Farrow) played softball for New Zealand as did his grandmother Patricia Farrow and his uncle Jason Farrow. Perenara's paternal grandmother was born in Broken Hill, Australia. Two of his cousins, Henry and Marcus, played in the National Rugby League competition. He is also distantly related to All Black teammate, Sonny Bill Williams, as well as Samoan international rugby player, Tim Nanai-Williams.
The public source identifies “TJ Perenara” as rugby player. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Perenara, rugby and player.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7670518. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1992, 2014, 2024 and 1987.
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This entry incorporates text from “TJ Perenara” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.