Cameron Roigard has pushed back at accusations he faked an injury to win a penalty, insisting there was "nothing to milk" after the aerial collision with Beauden Barrett that lit up the Hurricanes' Super Rugby Pacific semi-final.
The All Blacks halfback was at the heart of Wellington's 57-21 demolition of the Blues on Saturday night, a result that booked the Hurricanes' first grand final appearance since 2016. Roigard scored a try and made the line break that sent Jordie Barrett over for the opening score — but it was the build-up to that try that dominated the conversation afterwards.
In the second minute, Beauden Barrett chipped over the Hurricanes' first line of defence and chased his own kick, only to collide with Roigard as the No.9 jumped to claim the ball. Roigard hit the ground, Blues players gathered to check on him, and referee Ben O'Keeffe was surrounded by minor pushing and shoving. Moments later Roigard popped up, took a quick tap and burst through the retreating defence — a sequence that drew immediate comparisons to football-style simulation.
Speaking to Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB's Weekend Sport, Roigard explained the play from his perspective.
"I'm probably not the one who's meant to be taking the high ball so it was kind of going straight on my head so I wasn't able to jump square and into Baz, so I fell a bit ugly," he said.
"When something like that happens, there's usually a fight or a bit of a push-and-shove kind of thing. So I was just waiting for that and making sure I was all good, because you never know if you fall funny."
Roigard said it was a call from team-mate Ruben Love that prompted the quick tap. "Ruben Love was asking for the ball so I was like that must mean something's on so I got up, had a look, and no one was in the middle so I thought I might as well just go."
He was unrepentant about the criticism that followed online.
"I don't think I was milking it. I know everybody's having a crack online, but it is what it is. To be fair, if I stayed down or didn't take the quick tap, he might have gotten a yellow card anyway. It's not here nor there, but I don't regret it. It is what it is. It's footy.
"To be fair, if he didn't take me out in the air I'd have nothing to milk. I thought I'd just get on with the game and people are complaining. That's up to them, it's been and gone now."
Not everyone was so relaxed about it. Former England halfback Ben Youngs was among the first to react, saying there was "no place" for that kind of play in rugby. All Blacks great Mils Muliaina, on commentary for Sky Sport NZ, sensed the storm coming the moment Jordie Barrett dotted down. "There will be plenty of talk around how this eventuated," he said.
The debate is unlikely to dent the Hurricanes' momentum. Wellington host the Chiefs in the grand final next weekend, with Roigard's form at scrum-half one of the chief reasons Clark Laidlaw's side go in as the team in the better rhythm.
