Cam Roigard: from speedway saloons to the All Blacks' try-scoring halfback

Before he was an All Blacks halfback, Cam Roigard drove speedway cars. He first got behind the wheel as a boy in Waikato, and in 2019, the year after he left school, he finished second at the New Zealand saloon car championship. Rugby won. Seven years later, Roigard has played 26 Tests, started every one of the All Blacks' nine Tests in 2026, won a Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes and scored 17 Test tries, which on RUGBE's records is already the third most by any All Blacks halfback. On Sunday morning he starts against Scotland at Murrayfield.

Where he comes from

Cameron Roigard was born in Cambridge, Waikato, on 16 November 2000. He started playing rugby at four, at Karāpiro School. At ten he captained the Cambridge Bowers side despite being a year younger than the rest of the team, and he went on to captain the Gwynne Shield side and to win the Waikato Roller Mills title in 2012, the first time in 21 years that Waikato had won it, according to the Cambridge News.

His hero was Dan Carter. He had a large poster of the All Blacks first five on his wall, his father told the paper in 2023.

Speedway ran alongside rugby for most of his childhood. World Rugby reported that he started out at Huntly International Speedway, and he kept racing until 2021, when the Hurricanes offered him a contract and rugby became the priority.

St Peter's

At St Peter's School in Cambridge he spent three seasons in the First XV, from 2016 to 2018, and played in the National Top 4 Co-ed Cup in each of them. His 56 games make him the school's most capped First XV player. Second five-eighth Keith Lowen had been the school's first All Black; Roigard and loose forward Samipeni Finau, another old boy named in the same 2023 squad, became the second and third.

Counties Manukau and the Hurricanes

After school he made what his father called a "big call" and moved north to Counties Manukau. He plays his club rugby for Onewhero, and he made his debut for the Steelers in the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup. In 2022 Counties named him their Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

The Hurricanes first brought him in as a replacement player for their 2020 pre-season. In 2021 they offered him an injury-replacement contract, and he made his Super Rugby debut late in that season's Super Rugby Aotearoa. He signed a full contract for 2022 and toured the northern hemisphere with the All Blacks XV that November, coming off the bench against Ireland A.

His chance came in 2023. TJ Perenara missed the whole Super Rugby season with an Achilles injury, and Roigard took over the No 9 jersey. He was the Hurricanes' joint top try-scorer with nine tries in 14 games. "TJ has set the standard at the Hurricanes for so many years," he said, adding that whenever he got the chance he wanted to "give my all for the jersey".

The All Blacks

In June 2023 Ian Foster named his squad for the Rugby Championship at his old club, Te Awamutu Sports, and Roigard, watching at home with family and friends, heard his name read out. "A special moment I'll cherish forever," he called it.

He made his debut off the bench against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 July 2023, a 38-7 win. His first Test try came off the bench a month later at Twickenham, the All Blacks' only try in a 35-7 loss to South Africa.

At the World Cup in France he was one of three halfbacks in the squad. His first Test start came against Namibia in Toulouse on 15 September, and he scored twice in the first seven minutes of a 71-3 win and was named player of the match. He did not kick the ball until the second half. "It's a bit of a bonus," he said of the award. "He's just gone out there and taken every opportunity," said Sam Whitelock. He also started against Uruguay, scoring again, and came off the bench against Italy.

All Blacks defence coach Scott McLeod suggested his years behind the wheel had something to do with it. "He seems to have so much time on the ball," McLeod told World Rugby. "It almost goes in slow motion for him."

Two injuries

With Aaron Smith retired after the World Cup, Roigard was in line to be Scott Robertson's first-choice halfback in 2024. In March, playing for the Hurricanes against the Highlanders in Dunedin, he ruptured the patella tendon in his left knee. He had surgery in Auckland days later and missed the rest of the Super Rugby season and the All Blacks' July and Rugby Championship Tests.

He came back for the northern tour. He started and scored against Japan in Yokohama on 26 October 2024, came off the bench in the wins over England and Ireland, and started and scored in Paris and Turin.

In 2025 he started the first two Tests against France in July, scoring in Wellington, then missed the next five Tests, including the Springboks Test at Eden Park in September, when a stress fracture in his foot kept him out. He returned against Australia at Eden Park in September and scored twice in a 33-24 win, and on the November tour he scored in the wins over Ireland in Chicago and Scotland at Murrayfield.

In January 2026 he re-signed with New Zealand Rugby, the Hurricanes and Counties Manukau until the end of 2029, citing the chance of a British and Irish Lions tour that year. "I want to continue living that dream," he said. Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw said Roigard had gone from "a wildcard pick a few years back" to "one of the best halfbacks in the world".

2026: champions and an ever-present

The Hurricanes ran away with the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, scoring 113 tries, and on 20 June they beat the Chiefs 60-5 in the final in Wellington for their first title in a decade. Roigard's kick through set up one of Ruben Love's two tries.

Under Dave Rennie he has started all nine Tests of 2026. He scored twice in the opening 34-32 win over France in Christchurch on 4 July, equalling his best Test haul, then against Italy in Wellington, in Cape Town, and at Eden Park in the 50-19 Bledisloe Cup win on 10 October. That was his 17th Test try, taking him past TJ Perenara's 16. On RUGBE's records only Aaron Smith, with 29 in 125 Tests, and Justin Marshall, with 24 in 81, have scored more Test tries as All Blacks halfbacks. Roigard has done it in 26.

Style and standing

The NZ Rugby Museum describes him as one of the world's leading halfbacks, known for quick service, tactical kicking and try-scoring. Chris Lendrum, New Zealand Rugby's general manager of professional rugby, called him "already one of the best halfbacks in world rugby" when he re-signed. His own explanation for his consistency is simple. "A large part is preparation-based," he said in 2023: if the work is done in training, "games almost take care of themselves".

Honours: Super Rugby Pacific champion 2026; Counties Manukau Player of the Year 2022; player of the match on his first Test start, 2023.

Where he is now

Roigard, 25, has been named to start at halfback against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday morning New Zealand time, his 27th Test, with Damian McKenzie outside him. Wales in Cardiff and England at Twickenham follow. He is contracted to New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2029 and is in the Hurricanes' squad for 2027.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026. Club and provincial figures are from Wikipedia, updated June 2026.