‘Setting the standard’: Australian halfback's praise for All Black Cam Roigard

The new year had only recently got underway when All Black Cam Roigard made a headline-grabbing statement during an All Blacks camp. In early January, the Hurricanes No. 9 let his actions do the talking as he sent a message to halfback rivals around the world.

In the All Blacks’ first camp without legendary scrum-half Aaron Smith, and with new coach Scott Robetson watching on, Roigard stole the show in a world-renowned fitness test.

The Bronco is an increasingly popular fitness test used by athletes, coaches and sports teams all around the world.  Those who are brave enough to take on the gruelling 1.2-kilometre fitness test head-on must run 20, 40 and 60-metre shuttle runs five times each without stopping.

Roigard did that in just four minutes and 12 seconds. That’s fast.

The 23-year-old beat runner-up Damian McKenzie to take out the title as the All Blacks’ fittest player at that stage of pre-season. The halfback also equalled veteran Beauden Barrett’s longstanding record from four years ago.

On both sides of the Tasman, Roigard’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, either. Chiefs halfback Cortez Ratima and All Blacks Sevens star Sam Dickson were both full of praise for Roigard as they spoke with RugbyPass about the staggering Bronco time.

Let’s add Waratahs halfback Teddy Wilson to that list.

Wilson, who captained the Junior Wallabies to two victories over the New Zealand U20s last year, believes the four-Test All Black has raised the bar for all halfbacks around the world.

“He’s setting the standard for all halfbacks around the world now,” Wilson told RugbyPass on Monday.

“Running, what was it a 4:12 Bronco time? That’s ridiculous fast and he’s not a particularly small halfback either, he’s pretty built.

“For him to be moving at that speed is something I definitely now want to try and strive for. We do the annual Bronco test as well here.

“If I can get anywhere near that in the next couple of years, you’d be doing pretty well. I think that’s definitely something to strive for.”

Halfbacks have to be able to pass – it’s the backbone of their position. But that doesn’t matter if a No. 9 is unable to keep up with the pace of play by getting to the breakdown in the first place.

Early in the Waratahs’ tough pre-season last year, the team ran a Bronco without any of their Wallabies.

Wilson won it.

At just 20 years of age, the halfback ran a time of 4:30. But about four months on, Wilson wondered how much quicker he’d be running the Bronco now – and there’s another one coming for the Tahs at some stage, but the players don’t know when yet.

“We did one… it would’ve been back in October last year, I got a 4:30. Decent but we haven’t done our second one yet,” Wilson said.

“Hopefully after a whole pre-season, I could’ve shaved a bit of time off that. It would be interesting to see what I would be running at the moment.

“I’m actually not sure when we’re running our next one.

“I was the quickest,” he added. “The Wallaby boys were still away, there were a few boys injured that didn’t do it so from the backs there was about probably only eight or nine of us that ran it that day and I think I was the only halfback.

“I was lucky enough to win it then but I don’t know if I’d be winning it now, we’ll see after the pre-season.”

For anyone who watched the Junior Wallabies in 2023, you’ll be more than aware of the threat Teddy Wilson poses around the field. Boasting impressive passing and running games, the rising star could be a genuine talent within Australian rugby for the years to come.

But let’s just take a step back.

Wilson is still only 20 years old and the Waratahs’ captain Jake Gordon seems to have a pretty solid grip on the starting No. 9 jersey. But a chance to impress off the bench is there for the taking.

Wilson, who was included as a development player in the Australia A squad to take on a Japan XV in 2022, is embracing the opportunity to learn as much as possible from the Tahs skipper.

“It’s tough when Jake’s got the captaincy and he’s a great player and he’s got a huge impact on this team,” he added.

“I sort of look at it as a positive, though. I’m learning off him every day. Jake’s very approachable, he’s always willing to help so I think it’s great to have him here in this position.

“I’m still only 20 so I’m still learning a lot every day I come in. To have a bloke like him in front of me, he’s a great person to have there.

“I’m hoping to just get picked consistency this year, it would just be a goal of mine to play consistent footy.

“Hopefully if I can get some good minutes off the bench or wherever it may be, if I do get an opportunity to start I’ll be grateful for anything that comes my way.

“I think the main thing for me is just playing consistent footy for the Waratahs. I’ve only played seven-odd games of Super Rugby so more experience out there is probably the biggest thing for me this year.”