All Blacks: Cam Roigard says he has ‘become a better athlete’ and maps out Test return
Cam Roigard in action for the All Blacks at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
All Blacks scrum-half Cam Roigard is working hard on his rehabilitation from injury and is hoping to make a return to action with Counties Manukau in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship (NPC) and ultimately at Test level.
The 23-year-old has been out injured since the end of March after rupturing his left patella tendon during the Hurricanes’ victory over the Highlanders in round six of Super Rugby Pacific.
The injury is set to sideline him for at least six months but he is closing in on a full recovery and could return to action during the latter stages of the NPC.
Last year Roigard impressed for the All Blacks in his rookie season at Test level and after making his debut against Australia in July of 2023 he was one of three scrum-halves named in the All Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup.
Shone at the World Cup
He caught the eye with some fine performances at the global showpiece and after veteran scrum-half Aaron Smith’s retirement at the end of 2023, Roigard was in line to become the All Blacks’ first choice number nine under new head coach Scott Robertson.
However, his world came crashing down when he suffered his injury after some fine performances for the Hurricanes.
“I remember looking down — I thought I dislocated my knee cap initially because it wasn’t where it was meant to be but low and behold the patella was nowhere to be seen,” Roigard told 1News.
Despite that setback, Roigard’s recovery is on track and he is looking forward to making his comeback.
“Just over a month ago I couldn’t even squat the bar,” he added. “Being able to see how much I can progress each week has been pretty awesome.
“Yesterday I was doing back squats and got up to around 170kgs, which is pretty close to the weight that I was doing before my injury.
“I guess I’ve become a better athlete because of it in terms of my mental strength, being able to learn what discipline and resilience really looks like through a challenge like this, so although it’s been a bit [of a] setback I think once I do come back I’ll be a better athlete because of it.”
He has already missed all of the All Blacks’ mid-year Tests as well as their two Rugby Championship matches against Argentina in New Zealand.
He will also be unavailable for the remainder of his country’s Rugby Championship campaign but is eager to be back in contention for All Blacks selection.
‘It’ll be great to get in the mix’
“There’s plenty of competition there and I thrive off that, I love that, so it’ll be great to get in the mix with those boys hopefully and, you know, that’s how we get the most out of each other,” said Roigard.
“I’m just really looking forward to getting back in the team environment and getting back to doing what I love.”
Roigard’s focus is on making his return at provincial level but his ultimate goal is to be in the selection mix for the All Blacks again by the end of 2024.
“I’m hoping to be able to play a couple games of NPC at the back end but it’ll be good to get some rugby in, and then if I’m available for the end of year tour, then that’ll be great,” he added.
“Obviously, the priority is to try get it back to 100%. We don’t want to have any issues when I do come back to playing.”
