Justin Marshall offers theory for Scott Robertson’s contentious Cam Roigard call after ‘outstanding’ scrum-half ‘outplayed’ Antoine Dupont
Cam Roigard in action for the All Blacks against France, and former scrum-half Justin Marshall.
Former New Zealand scrum-half Justin Marshall has given his verdict on the Cam Roigard substitution and why Scott Robertson perhaps felt the need to make the change.
The 24-year-old was making his second international start since suffering a nasty injury while playing for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific earlier this year.
Roigard came off the bench against England and Ireland, but was handed the number nine jersey after incumbent Cortez Ratima struggled in the All Blacks’ previous two Tests.
Robertson’s decision was rewarded as the playmaker produced a superb first-half performance against France as the visitors went into the break 17-10 in front.
Excellent all-round display
He took the right options, executed well and also showed his try-scoring instincts to nick the ball off Gregory Alldritt and touch down.
At that point, New Zealand were in control, but the head coach made the surprising move to replace Roigard with Ratima early in the second period.
It is a call that has been criticised back home but one which Marshall, who was at the game in Paris, actually understood.
“Probably what people don’t see, which is what the coaching staff do, is they’ve got in their ear how he’s feeling and how fatigued he is. He’s not played that type of intensity in over a calendar year,” he told DSPN with Martin Devlin.
“He was outstanding on the night and he did outplay Antoine Dupont, and not many in the world do that in any jersey. That’s a massive compliment to Cam Roigard.
“But I felt that through the period that he got taken off the field, along with Sevu Reece, we were just starting to plateau a little bit, and I think the coaches could recognise that. You could actually see it when you were there as well.
“The French were just starting to get on top and I felt that we needed to change the picture a little bit.”
Ratima’s performance
Ratima enjoyed an excellent Rugby Championship but he has struggled on this northern hemisphere tour and was put under pressure by both England and Ireland.
Many observers also felt that he failed to produce in Paris as the All Blacks surrendered a half-time lead, eventually going down 30-29.
Marshall disagreed, however, and reckoned that the loss was down to other factors in the second period.
“Cam was doing great things but I didn’t feel that we suffered from having Cortez Ratima on the field,” he added.
“We possibly didn’t make good decisions in two or three instances where we needed to. I certainly wouldn’t say that a certain player who was on or off the field made a difference in the result.”
