How soon All Black Cam Roigard expects to return from injury

Cam Roigard has been stuck on the sidelines since the sixth round of this year’s Super Rugby Pacific season after rupturing his left patella tendon. It was a devastating injury but the halfback has worked tirelessly in a bid to return, and now his comeback isn’t too far off.

Roigard has captured multiple headlines over the last couple of months as the 23-year-old continues to hit milestones on the road to recovery. The five-Test All Black squatted around 170 kilograms in the weight room and recently ran a frighteningly quick Bronco.

In an interview about 32 days ago with New Zealand’s 1News, Roigard revealed that he was targeting a return during “the backend” of the current NPC season with Counties Manukau. That was music to the ears of all rugby fans who call New Zealand home.

With the All Blacks’ end-of-year tour now just a matter of weeks away, that news was welcomed by all. But, there’s since been an even more promising update with Roigard putting a date on his return, which is just around the corner.

Roigard told Hurricanes assistant coaches Cory Jane and Jamie Mackintosh that he’s looking to complete his return from injury in “the first weekend of October.” On the 5^th of October, Counties play Manawatu away at Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North.

If Roigard is able to make a successful return in that match then who knows what that could mean for the All Blacks remaining Tests this year. The scrumhalf has joined the All Blacks this week in Wellington as he continues to chip away on his rehab.

But that’s not exactly a surprise.

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Following a standout club season with the Hurricanes and later a handful of Tests with the All Blacks, there was no doubt that Roigard was destined for more. With Aaron Smith retiring from Tests, there was an opportunity for a new man to step up as the nation’s top No. 9.

Roigard was the fan favourite to succeed Smith in that role within the All Blacks’ environment, and the 23-year-old repaid that faith before the new Super Rugby campaign. The rising star ‘won’ the All Blacks’ pre-season Bronco Test with a stunning time of four minutes and 12 seconds.

Now, about five and a half months after suffering the knee injury, Roigard recently ran another Bronco which was a bit slower but that’s to be expected. Roigard ran the brutal shuttle run fitness test in four minutes and 29 seconds – a time that is up there with the elite.

“Yeah it was 4:29 which I was actually pretty happy with,” Roigard told Jane and Mackintosh in a video that was published on the Hurricanes’ social media channels.

“We hadn’t done too much running in prep for that. It’s a different type of running than just straight line and aerobic as such.

“I was on my own, bit windy around here, soft track.”

Roigard seems to have the fitness side of things down, but rugby is a tough sport, and the scrumhalf is having to get used to that again. There are some parts of the game that athletes can’t necessarily train such as contact and physicality.

 

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The All Black initially said that getting a full range of motion back in his knee was the hardest part of the rehab, but when asked about that side of the recovery late in the short video, Roigard explained just how tough it is.

“I reckon that’s probably the hardest bit to get used to, the contact conditioning. Getting used to being on the ground, getting back up, repeated efforts, and then the speed and the running change of direction stuff,” Roigard said.

“That’s probably the hard bit that you forget about because you’re keen as to get back to running but it’s the other stuff, the rugby stuff, that’s been a good challenge and something that I probably didn’t appreciate how difficult it can be.”