Ex-All Black claims Cam Roigard will miss out on Test selection because of ‘exceptional’ Damian McKenzie
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and scrum-half Cam Roigard.
Cam Roigard will miss out on an All Blacks start in their first Test of the year against France in July due to the presence of Damian McKenzie at 10.
That is according to ex-New Zealand scrum-half Steve Devine, who predicts that Scott Robertson will go with the all-Chiefs combination for the opening match of the three-game series.
Robertson has difficult choices to make in both half-back positions with the head coach having to decide between Roigard and Cortez Ratima at nine, and Beauden Barrett and McKenzie at fly-half.
Hurricanes star Roigard missed the majority of the 2024 international campaign after rupturing his patella tendon but ended the year as the first choice scrum-half having returned for the November campaign.
Roigard considered the favourite
He is the favourite to take the jersey for the All Blacks’ clash against Les Bleus in Dunedin on July 5, but Devine reckons that Ratima will be selected due to the fact that McKenzie is the form 10.
“I think he (Ratima) will start the first Test, with DMac at 10, just to hold a combination. They’re playing very well together those two,” he said on Sport Nation. “I think it’s a real possibility, just for combinations.”
The choice between the fly-halves is also a big one for Robertson. Beauden Barrett was the preferred option at the end of 2024 but McKenzie has once again been the form player during the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.
“I think DMac has been the best 10 in the competition this year,” Devine said. “The Chiefs are the form team and when he plays at 10 the Chiefs are a different level.”
There have been concerns about him translating those performances onto the international scene, but Devine felt that McKenzie played well for the All Blacks in 2024 despite the criticism that was directed the playmaker’s way.
Producing it at Test level
“I thought he had an outstanding season last year. He didn’t play as much at the end of the season but I thought he was exceptional,” he said.
“He hasn’t played a lot at 10 in international footy. We had a couple of massive Tests last year against South Africa in South Africa and I thought he performed really well. He’s found his feet and he’s got better for it.”
Devine also believes that McKenzie will suit the game plan Robertson wants to use this year and should get the nod which, according to the ex-All Black, is bad news for Roigard.
“If we want to play that high tempo game that the All Blacks want to play, and I think that’s what Razor has said recently, you have to have DMac. You have to have him there taking the ball to the line,” he added.
“If you want to play the territory, if you want to play the kicking battle, if you want to do it that way with the northern hemisphere style then you go with Beaudy.”
READ MORE: Highlanders v Chiefs: Five takeaways as Damian McKenzie shows ‘Beauden Barrett-like precision’
