A humble Cam Roigard has called his breakout performance against Namibia this morning a "bit of a bonus" despite pushing his case for a more prominent role in the All Blacks at this year's Rugby World Cup.
Roigard earned his first start for the All Blacks this morning while making his World Cup debut and didn't take long to show his potential with two tries in the first seven minutes of the game and just a few metres short in a kick-chase of claiming a hat-trick.
"It was a pretty cool experience, first World Cup game and an awesome atmosphere," Roigard said.
"It was pretty surreal. Something you can't really put into words."
But his tries were only part of the reason he was recognised after the match with the rookie international halfback looking threatening at the base of the ruck with his natural running game and quick ball.
In fact, Roigard didn't kick the ball until the second half of the match - a near-unbelievable stat in today's kicking-prominent game - and he said that was his decision.
"It was just, sort of, how it unfolded," he said.
"It was a bit of a feel thing - the rain came down and it was probably just safer to pump it down field with [Damian McKenzie's] right foot which is pretty huge."
That was just one instance of the praise Roigard was willing to pass on to others following the 71-3 win in Toulouse this morning in which he was named man of the match.
"It's a bit of a bonus," he said of the award.
"But I can't take all the credit - the set piece was outstanding from our forwards with a dominant scrum and lineout.
"And I had game drivers like [McKenzie] and [Beauden Barrett] outside me driving the show that made it pretty easy for me."
Even if he wouldn't talk up his game, his teammates were more than happy to.
"He's just gone out there and taken every opportunity," Sam Whitelock said, having just tied Richie McCaw's record for most All Blacks Test caps.
"I thought he drove us around, us forwards, around the park pretty well in challenging conditions."
Roigard beat five defenders and had three clean breaks this morning while running for 45m with just the one kick to his name in 67 minutes of play before he was replaced by Aaron Smith.
It mirrored his play for the Hurricanes this season - the style and flair that got him noticed by the All Blacks in the first place and now that he's in the team, he's been encouraged to stick at it.
"I was quite lucky - the feedback that I got leading into this was, 'don't overthink it, trust my instincts' which gave me a lot of confidence going into the game that I can play my natural game."
Time will tell if that natural game is called on against Italy in two weeks.
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