Perenara was initially left out of New Zealand's All Blacks squad in 2016, but was called up as injury cover for Tawera Kerr-Barlow. Perenara and Kerr-Barlow were both kept in the squad for the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks deciding to have three halfbacks in the squad. During the competition, Aaron Smith began to decrease in form quality after having multiple off-field incidents. Perenara earned a start against Argentina in the championship, keeping the starting spot over Kerr-Barlow for the rest of the competition. He scored 4 tries during the competition, including two tries against South Africa and what was later nominated for Try of The Year against Argentina. Perenara has been used as New Zealand's Haka leader since Smith's off-field incidents too.
