Hurricanes suffer setback as All Blacks star sidelined in build-up to Super Rugby Pacific play-offs
Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw (inset) and star scrum-half Cam Roigard.
The Hurricanes will be without the services of star scrum-half Cam Roigard for about a month after he suffered an injury while on Super Rugby Pacific duty.
The All Blacks star has been ruled out for three or four weeks with a calf issue, which he sustained in the Hurricanes’ 40-31 triumph against the Crusaders in Wellington last week.
Ahead of the start of this weekend’s round of Super Rugby Pacific matches, the Hurricanes were sitting pretty atop the standings with 40 points amassed after 10 matches played.
They are set to face Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Saturday and although the Hurricanes would probably have rested Roigard for that clash, he could now also be sidelined for their matches against the Blues (away), Highlanders (home) and Crusaders (away) ahead of the play-offs.
In fine form for the Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have been in superb form this season, and Roigard has led their onslaught with several outstanding individual performances.
Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw said, although it’s a setback to lose a player of Roigard’s calibre, he is confident the likes of Ene Enari and Jordi Viljoen, who are the back-up scrum-halves in his squad, will be able to fill in for Roigard in their upcoming games.
“He hurt his calf. He’s pulled his calf. It’s not the major part of his muscle, it’s in between. It’s not a tendon so it’s not a train wreck,” said Laidlaw.
“It’s disappointing but I guess we have had a good run, haven’t we? We’re always going to pick up a few dings here and there, but we want to have our best players fit and available for the biggest games.
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“Injuries are a massive part of the game and who copes with them [the best], the strength of your squad etc. You look at the Crusaders on the weekend, they’ve got a few but they weren’t feeling sorry for themselves.
“I thought they played really well and we’re the same. Both Jordi and Ere have trained all week and trained well – they’re ready to play.”
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Will not rush Roigard to return to action
Laidlaw said they will not be rushing Roigard to return to injury.
“I’m a believer that if they’re ready, they’re ready and if they’re not, they’re not,” he said. “Sometimes they’re ready and you think ‘Oh, do we wait a week?’ If they’re ready, we’ll get them back in there.
“That’s the game and playing with injuries, playing a bit sore, it’s the business end of the year so there won’t be too many rugby players running around feeling 100%.
“We won’t risk him but we’ve got outstanding physios and Cam is a good rehabber. Three to four weeks feels doable and if it gets to a point where you need to roll the dice, the back end of the season is the time to do that.
“Knowing Cam, he will be pushing to be back as soon as possible.”
