All Blacks confident Jordan and Roigard can make test side
Rugby Union – Autumn Internationals – Scotland v New Zealand – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain – November 8, 2025 New Zealand’s Cam Roigard scores a try REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
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Aug 17 : New Zealand should be able to use record try scorer Will Jordan and scrumhalf Cam Roigard in Saturday’s first test against the Springboks despite the pair having yet to feature on the tour of South Africa.
Coach Dave Rennie said he expected both players to be ready to play in the first of the four tests at Ellis Park and was not concerned they had not had pre-test practice.
“Cam has played a lot of rugby this year, so him not playing so much lately is not a bad thing,” Rennie told a press conference on Monday.
“Will came into that French test on the back of being out for a long time, so we’re confident they will slot straight in.
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“They are clear on our structures and their roles within the team, so we’re just making sure they are physically ready to go.”
Damian McKenzie, however, and back-up scrumhalf Cortez Ratima are still doubtful.
Cortez suffered a knee injury in the win over the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday, and Rennie has called up Crusaders scrumhalf Noah Hotham as cover, while McKenzie hurt his ankle last week when the All Blacks beat the Sharks in Durban.
“We’re going to see how it is (with Ratima) over the next 48 hours. Obviously, we’re a little bit thin at No. 9 as it is, so getting Noah in will be good.
“We expect Cam to be ready to go on the weekend. We’ve still got Kyle Preston if Cortez is no good.”
“Again, we’re hopeful with him,” the coach added about McKenzie, who would ordinarily be a first choice for the test at fullback.
“He had a light run yesterday. He was doing some more work with the physio this morning. We’re hoping to get him running by tomorrow. We’ll know a bit more then.”
FOUR INJURIES FOR ALL BLACKS ON TOUR
The All Blacks have added Highlanders prop Saula Ma’u to replace Ollie Norris in a fourth injury change after three matches against provincial opposition since the tour kicked off earlier this month.
Norris has a knee injury and is out for the next six weeks, joining George Bell, Billy Proctor, and Caleb Clarke as players headed home because of injury.
“You always hope for the best. They’ve been collision injuries, outside of George Bell, who did his in a clarity jog session,” Rennie said.
“Look, it’s the nature of the game. You look at Billy Proctor’s injury, when over-jackling the ball, just the angle he got hit on.
“Caleb was quite amazing really, because we think he was injured (shoulder tendon) in the first half (against the Sharks last Tuesday) and he was catching the ball above his head and charging into people. It’s amazing what adrenaline does.
“It’s sad for those guys to have their tour over so early. But it’s the nature of the game,” the coach added.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Source: Reuters
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