After signing an extension to his New Zealand Rugby contract, Cam Roigard admits that his game has been helped by a somewhat \u201cleft field\u201d inspiration.<\/p>\n
The star scrum-half will remain with the governing body until the end of 2029 at the very least, which takes in the 2027 Rugby World Cup and the British & Irish Lions series two years later.<\/p>\n
Roigard<\/a> has established himself as one of the premier nines in the game following his performances in 2025.<\/p>\n Roigard\u2019s inspiration<\/p>\n To get to where he is now, the 25-year-old has of course taken inspiration from previous All Blacks<\/a> half-backs, such as Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara, who he watched and then trained with before their departure to Japan.<\/p>\n However, there is another name on that list which is perhaps more surprising in the form of ex-Ireland player Conor Murray.<\/p>\n New Zealanders are perhaps accused of being a bit insular when it comes to rugby, but not Roigard, who has tried to emulate certain aspects of Murray\u2019s game.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember when I was 14 or 15 obviously looking up to the likes of Aaron Smith \u2013 his skill set was something I admired \u2013 but then I realised as I got a bit older I was not going to be like him because I was a little bit taller for a half-back,\u201d he told Sport Nation.<\/p>\n \u201cI watched a few highlights of TJ Perenara because he was bigger, he was left-footed and I guess I was pretty lucky to rub shoulders with them in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cEven now being a Hurricanes half-back, obviously TJ owned that position for a number of years, so that was someone I did look up to a lot growing up.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably a little bit left-field but Conor Murray as well, being a bigger nine. I think it was around the 2015 era, he was pretty dominant and probably one of the best in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was his classic show and go, which was something I tried to copy and paste.\u201d<\/p>\n