Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara's recent out-pouring of support for the LGBT community goes far beyond a mere reaction to Wallaby rival Israel Folau.
The 26-year-old joined fellow No.9 Brad Weber, taking to social media last month to condem Folau's homphobic outburst and stressing he was "100 percent" against the Aussie star's comments.
Folau faced an intense public backlash with his claims that gay people were destined for "hell" and has since been completely unapologetic over his stance.
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But Perenara says he never intended to create a "me vs Izzy" dialogue, that it was simply an opportune time for him to throw his profile behind a cause that was both worthy, and personal.
"Equality, in general, is something that I'm staunch on," the 42-cap All Black told media on Monday.
"I made my statement because it's something that's important to me and it's something I felt like I needed to do.
"I grew up with people who now identify in the rainbow community and I've got family members that do also, so it is personal to me... but even if I didn't, I'd still feel the same."
His four-tweet stand, which prompted what he described as an "overwhelming" response, was far from spontaneous. Perenara revealed that he enlisted some assistance to ensure his message would reach its intended mark.
"I spent a lot of time with my sister who helped me write the statement itself. I wanted to make sure that my message was portrayed in the light that I wanted it to be.
"It's something that I wanted to unify the rainbow community and give people in that community a platform to speak from."
In the weeks since, Perenara has put his words into action, taking to the streets to raise funds for the NZ Falcons, a gay and inclusive rugby team travelling to a tournament abroad in June.
He's also begun wearing rainbow-coloured laces during games as another sign of support, roping in some of his Hurricanes teammates to do the same - not that they needed much convincing.
"To be honest, [Perenara] just said 'would you be willing to wear them?' and I said 'yep'," recalls forward Blade Thomson.
"I'm just all about 'you be yourself, do what you want to do, what makes you happy'."
Unfortunately, Perenara's opportunities to don the laces himself have been few and far between in recent weeks, injuring his knee against the Sharks and missing the Hurricanes' last three games.
He made his long-anticipated return against the Blues on Friday night, bringing his trademark brand of high-energy impact off the bench to play a key role in his side's ninth straight win.
While there was some trepidation involved, Perenara said it was a relief to finally get back out on the pitch.
"It was good to be back out there, it's been frustrating not being able to play the whole month beforehand.
"I was a little bit nervous for it and I was thinking about my knee a little bit, but it was awesome."
The Hurricanes hope to keep the victories coming when they take on the struggling Reds at Westpac Stadium on Friday night, and Perenara insisted he was ready to reclaim his spot in the starting line-up.
"I've done all the right stuff in rehab," he said. "Fitness-wise, I could probably go the distance if I need to.
"I'm probably not back to where I was before I got injured, but it's pretty close."
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