Spotlight falls on Cam Roigard as Hurricanes' woes continue

With the Hurricanes backing up a top-seed finish in 2024 with an underwhelming Super Rugby Pacific campaign to date in ’25, the spotlight has fallen on the team’s star players.

The danger man of the backline is established All Black Cam Roigard, who had his 2024 Super Rugby season cut short by a patella injury. It was during the halfback’s absence that the team happened to reach the peak of their powers, while veteran TJ Perenara occupied the No. 9 jersey.

Roigard’s return to rugby took place during the NPC, where the 24-year-old notched three tries in 104 minutes across two weeks for Counties Manukau. As expected, an All Blacks recall swiftly followed, and Roigard was soon promoted to the first-choice halfback in black.

It appeared the 10-cap All Black’s recovery had come and gone without a hitch, but with the Hurricanes underperforming throughout the opening 10 rounds of the Super Rugby Pacific season, the timeline of his recovery has now been reconsidered in the eyes of some.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

3

Draws

0

Wins

2

Average Points scored

31

29

First try wins

20%

Home team wins

80%

Former Hurricanes loose forward Gordon Simpson was asked to share his thoughts on the team’s halves partnership, and expressed his view that Roigard was yet to return to the peak of his powers in the wake of the injury.

“I think you’ve got to nail it there, because that’s where most of the decisions are made in the game of rugby these days: the nine and 10. I think they are struggling there,” Simpson told former All Black Justin Marshall on Sport Nation‘s Rugby Run.

“Cam Roigard, I mean, he had a pretty serious injury last year, and he came back, he’s still trying to find his feet again.

“As we all know, having been in that position ourselves, sometimes if you have a key injury, it does take a lot of time to get back. But also, the old head space, the top two inches, it takes a bit of time to get back to that and actually start believing in yourself again.

“Now, you always have that self-belief, but it’ll probably be a little bit strange for Roigard at the moment, not hearing as much press as maybe he did when he first came on and everything turned to gold.

“I guess I keep coming back to it; yes, it’s Super Rugby and it’s a key brand of our game, but at the end of the day, we want him to start getting better, and if he takes a bit of time but he starts performing for the All Blacks down the line, then that’s key too.

“Maybe he should go back and look at some tape of Perenara, and just take some learnings. He’s got his own game, he’s his own individual, but sometimes it’s actually good going back and looking at players when they’re at the top of their form and seeing if there’s anything I need to tweak in my game to get to that level again.

“They call it the one-percenters, and I think that’s where the Hurricanes are missing a few people in their team at the moment.”

Justin Marshall agreed with Simpson’s view and highlighted a lack of consistency at 10 as a compounding factor for Roigard and the Hurricanes.

Having thrived with Brett Cameron steering the ship last season, the Canes began their ’25 campaign with young Harry Godfrey at the helm, but had to pivot to Riley Hohepa when Godfrey was struck down with injury. Last week in Perth, Ruben Love was handed the reins as the third starting 10 of the season, a role he has retained for week 11.

After highlighting a lack of cohesion and clarity of role in the loose forwards, Simpson ultimately threw his support behind the team to find their mojo and return to the playoffs by the season’s end.