news-engine

‘Pressure on’ Dave Rennie amid Cam Roigard ‘concern’ as Justin Marshall gives verdict on All Blacks scrum-half selection Justin Marshall would pick Cortez Ratima as Cam Roigard’s back-up and states that he may have to play a big part for the All Blacks this weekend. New Zealand head to Johannesburg to face South Africa in the first of four Test matches in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series on Saturday. They will go in with plenty of confidence following six successive victories under Dave Rennie, which includes defeating the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls on this South African tour. All Blacks’ injury worries However, the new head coach may have some selection dilemmas with Roigard among those under an injury cloud. The Hurricanes star has been head and shoulders above his All Blacks scrum-half rivals, but he has not featured for the national team since the third game of the Nations Championship, which was a month ago. Rennie is confident that he will be good to go and, if available, the 25-year-old is a guaranteed starter, but he will head into the match potentially lacking some match fitness. “They are very confident Cam Roigard is going to be fine to start the Test match but, when a player has been carrying a slight injury and not training like you usually would, there is this concern about your ability to last the full game,” Marshall said on The Breakdown. “That then puts pressure on the selection of who the replacement is should things go a little bit wrong, or that niggle resurfaces early in the game.” Ratima and the Crusaders’ Kyle Preston have so far shared scrum-half duties with the former starting against the Stormers and Bulls, while the latter took the reins for the Sharks clash. Both have impressed when on the field but it will be another level up when they take on the Springboks in the first Test of the series in Johannesburg. Experience vital That for Marshall is what should be the decisive factor in Rennie’s decision. While Preston has plenty of backers who believe that he deserves a slot, the former half-back has claimed that experience is hugely important in this instance. Although Preston is 18 months older than his fellow number nine, Ratima has earned over 20 caps for the All Blacks. “When I think about that, the first thing that comes into my mind is I’m an advocate for who is playing the best and giving players opportunities, but in a place like Ellis Park, you’ve got to be very careful about being a bit green and I think that’s where Cortez Ratima gets the nod for me,” Marshall said. “It’s simply because he’s played more Test matches, he’s played across the world, he’s been involved in South African games before whereas Kyle Preston hasn’t. “He’s playing very, very well, he’s putting pressure on but, because of the circumstances around Roigard, I think they will go with Cortez Ratima.”