Cam Roigard sees ‘clear and simple’ solution to improve All Blacks’ big weakness
Springboks winning high ball battle against All Blacks, and New Zealand scrum-half Cam Roigard.
All Blacks star Cam Roigard insists that the players are doing all they can to improve their issues under the high ball ahead of this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup encounter.
It has been a consistent weakness for New Zealand since World Rugby changed the laws to allow a greater contest in the air.
The problem was not rectified by the previous head coach, Scott Robertson, and new boss Dave Rennie has also struggled to find the right formula.
Struggles against the Springboks
They were dominated in that department by the Springboks during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry as Rassie Erasmus’ men claimed a 3-1 series triumph.
You would imagine that the Wallabies will also seek to test the skills of the All Blacks back three having bettered South Africa under the high ball during their stunning 42-38 success almost two weeks ago.
Roigard states that their struggles are not due to a lack of effort and simply hopes that the old adage of practice makes perfect will pay off in this instance.
“We put a lot of time into it. It’s something we’ve changed this year in how we do it and how we set up with it,” he told Sport Nation.
“Obviously, the opposition teams preview us and see that, and try to come up with solutions to stop it and regain the ball.
“Credit to South Africa, they managed to do that quite a few times, but it’s not something we leave up to chance. We put in a lot of time, we watch footage, we’re going through a review of how we’ve done it in previous games and how we can be better, to the smallest details.
“Because of the rules, it’s not really favouring the catcher at all. Just reps is the clear and simple way to get better at it, whether it is coming forward and catching it or running back.”
As Roigard stated, they have altered their approach slightly by getting the wing to turn and head back to catch the ball rather than a player running onto it, but they are still having issues.
‘We’re not getting the results we’re after’
“Without practice you’re not going to get any better so I know the boys are putting in the work and they have been,” he added.
“It’s a relatively new skill – the one running backwards – but we’re not necessarily getting the results that we’re after yet. We’re not far off but it’s definitely not because of a lack of practice we’ve been putting into it.”
It could also simply be a personnel problem. Caleb Clarke is highly skilled under the high ball but he has missed the bulk of the past couple of Test seasons through injury.
If Rennie could pair Clarke with Will Jordan, that could go some way to solving their issues, but the All Blacks have had to make do without the Blues speedster.
Instead, Jordan will partner Leroy Carter on the wing against Australia this weekend with Josh Moorby on the bench, while Beauden Barrett starts at full-back.
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