Cam Roigard is the best scrum-half in the world, according to Stephen Donald, while All Blacks legend Mils Muliaina believes that Dave Rennie could significantly shift New Zealand\u2019s tactics because of the number nine.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old halfback was pivotal in the Hurricanes\u2019 run to the Super Rugby Pacific title and took that form into the black jersey with a man-of-the-match performance in New Zealand\u2019s 34-32 victory over France.<\/p>\n
He scored twice in the win and was crucial to maintaining the tempo of the All Blacks\u2019 attack while he executed the side\u2019s tactics perfectly as the Rennie era began on a high.<\/p>\n
All Blacks greatest scrum-half debate<\/p>\n
Roigard\u2019s performances in the black jersey have already raised the debate on whether he is the best number nine that the All Blacks<\/a> have ever produced. He earned just his 18th cap for his country against France on Saturday in Christchurch, but despite his lack of international experience, some fans already rank him ahead of legendary half-back Aaron Smith.<\/p>\n \u201cCam Roigard<\/a> is the best half-back New Zealand\u2019s ever had,\u201d a supporter wrote in a text to Sky Sport NZ\u2019s Breakdown show.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone said Aaron Smith changed half-backs with his passing game. Roigard has changed it with his running game.\u201d<\/p>\n Reacting to the comment, World Cup hero Stephen Donald wasn\u2019t willing to put him above Smith just yet, but he does believe that he is better than France\u2019s Antoine Dupont.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m voting him as the best halfback in the world. Absolutely,\u201d Donald remarked.<\/p>\n \u201cIs he Aaron Smith yet? I\u2019d say he\u2019d be the first to admit he\u2019s probably not, but he\u2019s different to Aaron Smith. He is probably a mixture of the era before Aaron Smith and then Aaron Smith.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s young; he\u2019s only played about two or three years of full international rugby. He\u2019s had injuries. By the time the next World Cup comes around, he could be absolutely anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Nations Championship Team of the Week: Five Springboks make the cut, including \u2018sky-owning\u2019 Damian Willemse, while All Blacks enjoy \u2018lightning service\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Dave Rennie could shift tactics to suit Cam Roigard<\/p>\n Muliaina also feels that Roigard could surpass Smith at some point and believes that he is so good that he could change the way the All Blacks attack.<\/p>\n Traditionally, New Zealand have attacked through their fly-half who dictates the play and manages the game. That was very much the case when the likes of Andrew Mehrtens, Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett and others dominated the number 10 jersey. However, the first-choice fly-half is less clear-cut currently, whilst Roigard is the go-to number nine and by some distance.<\/p>\n \u201cHe consistently gets better and better every year,\u201d the former full-back remarked.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what we saw in last night\u2019s performance, particularly when he is under pressure like that box kick his own line to get us to the 40-metre mark; that\u2019s the sort of stuff you think \u2018Far out, here\u2019s a guy that\u2019s got special things\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that\u2019s a little bit different and we haven\u2019t really seen over the past few years is: do we build a game around the nine, which we seldom ever do; it\u2019s always around the 10. With this nine here, you\u2019d have to consider it.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks v France: Winners and losers as Dave Rennie\u2019s selections are \u2018justified\u2019 while Damian Penaud suffers cruel setback<\/a><\/p>\n The French approach<\/p>\n France are renowned for playing through their scrum-halves, having routinely produced world-class number nines with the likes of Fabien Galthi\u00e9, Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili and Dupont to name just a few.<\/p>\n Donald agrees with his fellow ex-All Black that Rennie could go down that route and copy the French approach.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you could go that route, particularly because Cam has that IQ. He has that game management ability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou saw that last year when the All Blacks were struggling against South Africa at Eden Park. All of a sudden, there\u2019s a calmness; there\u2019s a guy who\u2019s taken control of the game as a 10 would usually, nine would distribute to 10 and 10 would run the show.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could go down essentially a French route as far as a nine being the big governor.\u201d<\/p>\n