As we head into round fifteen of Super Rugby here is a quick look at two incidents from an eventful game between the Hurricanes and the Chiefs in Wellington last weekend. They’re largely unrelated to one another, other than Perenara being involved in both.
Starting early in the game, dynamic scrumhalf TJ Perenara stopped fullback Robbie Robinson dead in his tracks with a solid chest high hit. It might have snuck up a little as Robinson ducked into it slightly, but Perenara showed that for a little guy, he packs a bit of punch.
And a punch is what he was on the receiving end of later in the game, when he and Liam Messam got in a bit of a tangle after winger Asaeli Tikoirotuma dropped in a heap as the Hurricanes tried to get the ball to take a quick lineout.
After a bit of push and shove, Messam, who is never far from a boxing ring, gave the nuggety number nine a short shot, which Perenara wasn’t afraid to tell everyone about.
As you’ll see [that video is on page two], referee Lourens Van Der Merwe felt that while it was a closed fist, it was more of a love tap than a genuine punch, so only a penalty was necessary.
Below is the big collision early in the game, and you can view the Messam punch too
The scuffle between Liam Messam and TJ Perenara. As you can see, it was a punch, but nothing serious, so only a penalty was awarded by referee Lourens Van Der Merwe.
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