The ‘Canes halfback - who only came off the bench in the season opener against the Force before starting against the Reds and Blues - has looked dynamic and already a cut above the form that saw him introduced at test level last year.
An explanation...
Through three rounds, Roigard has beaten the most defenders in the competition (19), scored two tries and had a hand in two others, while also being easily the pick of the Kiwi starting halfbacks in their speed of pass and decision-making.
That has taken a lot of the pressure off Brett Cameron outside him, with the one-test All Black realising his part in moving the team about the park - he doesn’t need to overplay his hand, given the quality of players inside and outside him that are capable of being the true game-breakers.
New Zealand coach Robertson will no doubt have noted that Roigard’s playmaking abilities have shone in his two starts to date.
It gave him the edge over Blues opposite and fellow All Black Finlay Christie last week but was also reminiscent of Aaron Smith’s ability to do likewise with the Highlanders when he was often served with a revolving door at 10, but importantly too at test level, his ability to get his side on the front foot or out of dodge often allowed his 10 to look a step ahead.
A prediction...
If Roigard can continue the form he’s shown to this point, it puts real heat on Christie to respond and may make the decision at the selection table come July for England a relatively easy one.
It’s the two who will join him that appear most up in the air, with work to do for the other four starting halfbacks and their understudies around the country to this point.
A suggestion...
What might please Robertson the most is Roigard’s ability to park the torment of missing the last three games of the Rugby World Cup and channel that into the early-season form that makes other teams take notice.
Of the crop of All Blacks still in the country, Roigard has shown a fire in the belly stronger than the others to this point - evidenced too by his scorching Bronco time in fitness testing in January, when most of last year’s All Blacks gathered in camp in Auckland.
A suggestion...
There is a line you can draw to a previous changing of the guard in New Zealand halfbacks.
While Aaron Smith had been earmarked from a young age for higher honours, Roigard’s ability to this point appears reminiscent of 2012, when Smith shot past the incumbent All Blacks nines in a post-World Cup year, elevating the standard by some way and leaving those still around appearing stuck in the mud (all three 2011 World Cup winning halfbacks - Piri Weepu, Andy Ellis, and Jimmy Cowan - stuck around for at least a Super Rugby season afterwards but only Weepu added more than two tests to his tally after that, before he shot through in 2013).
Elliott Smith is Newstalk ZB and Gold Sport’s lead rugby commentator and reporter. He’s been a sports journalist since 2010 and has travelled to three Rugby World Cups for NZME, including commentating the Rugby World Cup final in 2023.
