Tim Perry (rugby union)
| Full name | Timothy Grant Perry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 1 August 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ashburton, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 116 kg (18 st 4 lb; 256 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | St. Andrew's College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Grant Perry (father) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Timothy Grant Perry (born 1 August 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a prop for Tasman in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Crusaders in the international Super Rugby competition.[1][2][3][4]
Early career
The son of former All Black Grant Perry, Tim was born in the town of Ashburton and raised on a nearby farm. He moved to Christchurch to complete his secondary school education where he was a boarder at St. Andrew's College. He played first XV rugby for St. Andrew's and after graduation won the Christchurch Colts competition playing for the Christchurch club and represented Canterbury at under-19 level in 2007.
His breakthrough into top level rugby was delayed due to a focus on other commitments, notably his job as a shepherd on his family's farm, however he began to make a name for himself playing for Mid Canterbury in the 2010 Heartland Championship. He was nominated for the Heartland player of the year award and made the team of the season.
For 2011 he moved to Marlborough to play club rugby for Harlequins and as a result of his good form, he gained selection for Tasman's B side.[5]
Senior career
Perry made the Tasman ITM Cup squad for the first time in 2012 and instantly became a regular in the number 1 jersey, playing 9 of the Makos 11 games as they were knocked out in the Championship semi-finals by Otago. He started 11 times and scored a career high 2 tries during Tasman's Championship title winning year of 2013 which culminated in a narrow 26-25 victory over Hawke's Bay in the final.
Tasman continued their meteoric rise in 2014, reaching the Premiership final in their first season after promotion before going down 36-32 to Taranaki in the final with Perry making 8 starts throughout the year. 2015 saw the Makos knocked out in the semi-finals, this time by Auckland with Perry again a key component of their scrum, playing 9 of their 11 games during the season while in 2016 the men from Marlborough and Nelson were again beaten finalists, losing out 43-27 to perennial champions Canterbury with Perry an ever present throughout the campaign.[4]
Super Rugby
A strong first season at provincial level with Tasman saw Perry named in the Blues squad for the 2013 Super Rugby season. He started 7 games in what was to be his only year in Auckland as his franchise endured a difficult season, winning only 6 of 16 games to finish 10th on the overall log.[6]
He headed to the Crusaders for 2014 and despite stiff competition from fellow looseheads; Wyatt Crockett and Joe Moody, he acquitted himself well. Helped by an injury to Moody, Perry went on to play 10 times in his first season in Christchurch, 4 times from the start as the men in red and black reached the tournament final before losing 33-32 to the Waratahs in Sydney.[7]
Moody's return from injury in 2015 in addition to the emergence of wider training group loosehead Alex Hodgman relegated Perry down to fourth choice number 1 and as a result, he only made a solitary substitute appearance during the campaign. However, he was still highly thought of in Crusaders country and was included in the franchise's wider training group for 2016 despite having suffered a season-ending injury playing for the Tasman Makos in 2015. After missing out on 2016, new Crusaders head coach, Scott Robertson promoted Perry back to the 'Saders senior squad for 2017.[2][3][4]
International
Perry was a New Zealand Schools representative in 2006.[8]
Despite limited game time for the Crusaders in 2017 due to established All Blacks Joe Moody and Wyatt Crockett being regulars in the 1 and 17 jerseys, Perry was called up to the All Blacks for the 2017 end-of-year tour after an outstanding provincial campaign with Tasman and injuries to Moody and Kane Hames. Perry made his debut off the bench, replacing the now-recovered Hames in the match against the Barbarians in Twickenham on November 4, 2017, which was a 31-22 win. Perry is the 20th All Black to be a son of a former All Black. Perry also started for the All Blacks 10 days later, playing a solid shift in the 28-23 win against a French XV before being replaced by debutant Atunaisa Moli, however both of these matches do not count as official test matches.
Perry was included in the All Blacks squad for the France test series, but he failed to make his official test debut due to a hamstring injury. Perry was replaced in the squad by Karl Tu’inukuafe as the All Blacks won the series 3-0. Perry recovered from injury for the Super Rugby playoffs, in good form. This form from Super Rugby allowed Perry to play his first test for New Zealand on 18th August 2018 against Australia, during the 2018 Rugby Championship. Perry replaced Crusaders team-mate Joe Moody in the 53rd minute of the test and had a fine performance against Australia, who were beaten by the All Blacks by 38-13.
Career Honours
Tasman
Super Rugby Statistics
- As of 1 January 2017[4]
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Mins | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points | Yel | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Blues | 7 | 7 | 0 | 479 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Crusaders | 10 | 4 | 6 | 315 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Crusaders | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 18 | 11 | 7 | 815 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
References
- ↑ "Tasman Makos Player Profiles". Makos Rugby. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- 1 2 "Tim Perry Crusaders Player Profile". Crusaders Rugby. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- 1 2 "Crusaders 2017 Squad Guide" (PDF). All Blacks.com. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 "Tim Perry itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ↑ "No1 man continues to impress". Clay Wilson. Marlborough Express. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ↑ "Blues squad announced for 2013". Blues Rugby. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ↑ "Tim Perry has plenty to prove against Chiefs". Rugby Heaven. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ↑ "New Zealand Schools team named". All Blacks. 14 September 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2017.