RWC Special II: Roigard action
Halfback shines but ill discipline blights big win ($)
NZ 71 NAMIBIA 3
There is a danger of reading too much into a victory against Namibia, who have extended their unenviable World Cup record to 0-24. To avoid that trap, we will stick to the barebones, with a couple of obvious and perhaps less well signposted points of interest.
1. Stating the obvious
Cam Roigard was a worthy player of the match and continues an impressive start to his nascent test career. There is both an edge and an innocence to his play that is refreshing. There was a moment just before he fed a scrum where he turned to Damian McKenzie to double-check the call and said, if my lip-reading is correct, “You sure?” A couple of seconds later he bolted from the base, beat two defenders and sent his first five-eighth in for his second try. I thought I initially saw McKenzie say, “Told you,” but having watched the replay a few times, it might just be what I hoped he said.
Roigard was outstanding, scoring a try and having a hand in most others. He kicked just once in the match, which was great for us watching on TV even if it might have been an aspect of his game the coaches would have liked to have seen a little more of.
Roigard’s absence from the opener against France wound a lot of people up who believe he should be Aaron Smith’s back up. At the risk of reading like clickbait, is even that underselling his potential impact on this tournament?