Timothy Grant Perry (born 1 August 1988) is a retired

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played as a

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for in New Zealand's domestic

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, the and the

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in the international

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition. Despite many injuries across his career, Perry was selected for New Zealand in 2017, playing 8 games for the All Blacks.

Early career

The son of former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Grant Perry, Tim was born in the town of Ashburton and raised on a nearby farm. He moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

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 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 Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

in the

2010 Heartland Championship The 2010 Heartland Championship was the fifth edition of the New Zealand provincial rugby union competition, since the 2006 reconstruction. The teams represented the 12 amateur rugby unions. In Round One, the teams were split into two pools of ...

. He was nominated for the Heartland player of the year award and made the team of the season. For 2011 he moved to

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

to play club rugby for Harlequins and as a result of his good form, he gained selection for 's B side.

Senior career

Perry made the Tasman ITM Cup squad for the first time in

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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 . He started 11 times and scored a career high 2 tries during Tasman's Championship title winning year of

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which culminated in a narrow 26–25 victory over in the final. Tasman continued their meteoric rise in

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, reaching the Premiership final in their first season after promotion before going down 36–32 to in the final with Perry making 8 starts throughout the year.

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saw the Makos knocked out in the semi-finals, this time by with Perry again a key component of their scrum, playing 9 of their 11 games during the season while in

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the men from Marlborough and

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were again beaten finalists, losing out 43–27 to perennial champions with Perry an ever present throughout the campaign. Perry was part of the Tasman team that won the

for the first time unbeaten in

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playing his 70th and final game for the Mako in the final.

Super Rugby

A strong first season at provincial level with Tasman saw Perry named in the squad for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

. He started 7 games in what was to be his only year in

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as his franchise endured a difficult season, winning only 6 of 16 games to finish 10th on the overall log. He headed to the for

and despite stiff competition from fellow looseheads;

Wyatt Crockett Wyatt William Vogels Crockett (born 24 January 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played at prop for the Crusaders in Super Rugby, Canterbury and Tasman in the National Provincial Championship, and the New Zealand national team ...

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 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Moody's return from injury in

in addition to the emergence of wider training group loosehead

Alex Hodgman Alexander T O A. Hodgman (born 16 July 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a prop for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Career Early career Born and ra ...

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

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

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International

Perry was a New Zealand Schools representative in 2006. Despite limited game time for the Crusaders in 2017 due to established All Blacks Joe Moody and

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 4 November 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 fellow newcomer Karl Tu’inukuafe, as the All Blacks won the series 3–0. Perry recovered from injury in time for the Super Rugby playoffs, in good form. This form from Super Rugby allowed Perry to play his first test for New Zealand on 18 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. Perry made a further four test appearances during the Rugby Championship, in the injured Moody's absence. Perry replaced

Karl Tu'inukuafe George Zvi Karl Tu'inukuafe (born 21 February 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for the in Super Rugby, and for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup. His position of choice is loosehead prop. He has previously repres ...

off the bench in all of them. Perry's highlight of the competition was on 29 September, against Argentina, where himself and All Black debutant Angus Ta'avao performed extremely well against the opposition's scrum. Perry's outstanding scrum performance lead to a 35–17 win over Argentina, securing the Rugby Championship trophy for New Zealand. In the final round of the Rugby Championship, Perry didn't perform as well. Perry replaced Karl Tu'inukuafe against South Africa's Springboks, in the 46th minute, but missed a crucial tackle on Springbok captain

Siya Kolisi Siyamthanda Kolisi (born 16 June 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team and also the Cell C Sharks. He plays club rugby for the in the Currie Cup. He generally plays as a ...

, only a few minutes after coming on, leading to a try to South African midfielder

Damian de Allende Damian de Allende (born 25 November 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. His usual position is either centre or wing. He was a ...

. Perry was eventually subbed off the field in the 70th minute, for a concussion test, which was failed. Tu'inukuafe came back onto the field for Perry, who missed out on the final minute, when Perry's Crusaders team-mate

Richie Mo'unga Richard Fou'a Mo'unga (born 25 May 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a first five-eighth for in the Bunnings NPC, the in Super Rugby, and the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Early life Mo'unga was bo ...

kicked the winning conversion, leading to a narrow 32–30 win. Having broken his arm during the 2019 Super Rugby season, Perry was not considered for national selection due to injury in 2019, missing out on the World Cup.

Career honours

Tasman * ITM Cup Championship –

* Mitre 10 Cup Premiership –

Crusaders *

–

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Tim 1988 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union props Mid Canterbury rugby union players Tasman rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Crusaders (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Ashburton, New Zealand People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch New Zealand international rugby union players