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Former All Blacks cast doubt on Hurricanes’ super point substitutions
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Three former All Blacks have agreed that the Hurricanes coaching staff may have made an error of judgment in extra time by taking off one of the world’s best players.
Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw and his coaching staff opted to leave All Black halfback Cameron Roigard on the field for the full 80 minutes, before substituting him for Ereatara Enari just 30 seconds into Super Point.
While walking off the field during the stoppage, one former All Black believed Roigard looked “filthy” with the decision to take him off, after playing less than a minute in extra-time.
The Chiefs then went on to win the game through a clutch Wallace Sititi try, on the back of a partially charged Damian McKenzie drop goal, by Hurricanes lock Warner Dearns.
60-Test former All Black and current Sky Sport commentator Jeff Wilson was of the belief that there was nothing wrong with Roigard, and it was a purely tactical decision.
“This was in front of me, I was commentating sideline. I can tell he’s filthy, he’s filthy when you’ve played 80 minutes and you’ve been influential in terms of doing your job, and clearly, to me, looked fine,” Wilson said on the Breakdown.
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“It was just 30 seconds into extra time.”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Wilson believes that there was nothing in the performance that suggested the halfback should have been subbed, even if they ended up winning the game.
“I think that was a mistake to me, that was an error. You’ve committed him to the 80 minutes, he can go the next 10 if he needs to. I thought he was good, there weren’t many opportunities for him.
“But once again, I come back to the fact I think both of these two teams prepared, and prepared really well, he had a couple of really nice touches.
“But for me, I don’t understand the substitution at the time, I really don’t.”
Former All Black centurion Mils Muliaina agreed, admitting the decision was a bit of a head scratcher.
“This is a guy that we’re comparing to Dupont, you’re taking him off 29 seconds into extra time. He’s either injured or there must be a different reason, but this is one of the best players in the New Zealand Rugby at the moment.
“So I don’t understand how they sort of took him off. I was scratching my head.
“Did they lose it by taking him off? I don’t know, but why would you take someone off of his caliber?”
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