Click here for game report
Kia ora, good evening and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Hurricanes v NSW Waratahs Super Rugby Pacific clash at Wellington's Sky Stadium.
After seeing their unbeaten start to the campaign snapped by ACT Brumbies last week, the home side will be keen to stop the rot and retain their now-tenuous position atop the competition table. They enter this contest with just a one-point lead over the Blues.
The Waratahs have slid out of playoff contention and currently sit one off the bottom of the ladder, with their only two wins both coming against defending champions Crusaders.
Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw has taken the opportunity to bring All Blacks TJ Perenara and Jordie Barrett off the bench, while bringing fourth-choice hooker (maybe fifth) Kianu Keruru-Symes into the starting XV to answer a deluge of injuries at the position.
Join us at 7pm for kickoff.
TAB Odds: Hurricanes $1.06, Waratahs $8
Hurricanes star Roigard targets All Blacks return from season-ending knee injury
He was one of the standout performers in an unbeaten Hurricanes side, but with his Super Rugby Pacific season cruelly ended by injury, Cam Roigard has revealed his frustration at being sidelined for six months.
Roigard, 23, tore the patella tendon in his knee against the Highlanders a month ago, but is taking rehab in his stride, as he sets his sights on a return to the All Blacks jersey later this year.
"I'm ticking the boxes so far," Roigard told Newshub. "The scar is healing up well, but I've lost a bit of size in the quad, which was always going to happen.
"I'm able to start activating that now, which is the next step."
The star halfback vividly remembers the pain of the night it happened.
"I initially thought I'd dislocated my knee cap, because it sort of felt like two knees colliding," he said. "That was the feeling.
"Then I looked down and I could see my kneecap wasn't where it was meant to be, but it wasn't until I saw the doctor after the game that he said, 'No-one hit you, it was just how you fell'.
"It's a bit of a weird one. It's not very common. especially in rugby."
Roigard has ridden a wave of emotions since that moment, as he watches the Hurricanes maintain top spot from the couch. Time on the sidelines, in the gym and in physio has given him plenty of time to reflect.
"I suppose accepting it was probably the first thing, knowing it's the reality and it's going to be the next however many months," he said. "You do start to feel sorry for yourself a little bit, but I've got great support around me."
Roigard wouldn't stay down for long though. He soon linked up with Sydney Roosters utility Connor Watson, who suffered the same injury in a training session before the 2023 NRL season.
Those conversations allowed him a clearer picture of what his road to recovery might look like.
"Just understanding what he's been through, and what he struggled with and found helped was really good," said Roigard. "The more I understand it, the better place I'll be in to nail the rehab."
Cam Roigard is carried off the field against Highlanders. Photo credit: Getty Images
He's had open communication with new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson and, if all goes to plan, his targeted return is the All Blacks test against Japan in October.
"He contacted me the day after it happened," quips Roigard. "I hear he's had quite a few knee operations himself in his career.
"It was good to have a chat to him and he was saying, 'We're here to help you out'. The medical staff are really aligned and he's confident that, if I'm fit, there's every possibility I could make the end-of-year tour.
"That's the goal at the moment, but that's a long way away, so it's baby steps."
Cam Roigard is determined to make every one of those steps a winner.
