Israel Dagg
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Israel Jamahl Akuhata Dagg (born 6 June 1988) is a former New Zealand
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player who played for the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
in
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
. He has also played for the New Zealand Sevens team, and represents Hawkes Bay in the
ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Teknologi Mara, a public university in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia * Institute for Information, Tel ...
. Dagg played international rugby for New Zealand's All Blacks from 2010 to 2017, before repeated knee injuries cut his career short. Dagg scored 26 tries during his international career and is one of the most-capped outside backs in All Black history. Dagg announced his retirement from rugby on 4 April 2019 in an Instagram post citing continued issues with an injury to his right knee. He has continued to be an integral member of the Crusaders' coaching and advisory staff. Following his untimely retirement, he joined the Sky Sport NZ rugby union commentary team.


Early life

Dagg was born in Marton, New Zealand, and attended Lindisfarne College in
Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
, Hawke's Bay. Dagg is of
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
(
Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...
) and Samoan descent through his grandmother.


Early career

While in high school, Dagg represented Hawke's Bay at under-16 and under-19 level. Dagg attended the Advanced Course at the International Rugby Academy (IRANZ) in April 2006. His course facilitator was former Wallabies coach, Dave Rennie, and former
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
, Otago Highlanders and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
player Jeff Wilson. That year, he became the first secondary school player to be selected for Hawke's Bay since Danny Lee. The 2006 ''New Zealand Rugby Almanack'' named him one of its five promising players for 2006.


International career


2010

Dagg made his
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
debut against
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in
New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...
on 12 June 2010. He was again capped against
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
the following week, but was injured at half time. Coach Graham Henry decided to rest him for the second test against Wales, giving veteran Mils Muliaina an opportunity. Muliaina was awarded the 15 jersey for the opening Tri Nations test against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. A strong performance by the veteran, in the 32–12 result for the All Blacks, led to his being selected again for the rematch against the Springboks. Dagg was awarded a bench spot from which he emerged to score his first international try for the All Blacks. Dagg swerved between
Schalk Burger Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Jr. (born 13 April 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a Flanker (rugby union), flanker for Saracen F.C., Saracens in the English Premiership (rugby union), English Premiershi ...
and Pierre Spies before dancing his way to the try line. This try gave New Zealand the try bonus-point in the ''Investic Tri Nations'' as the All Blacks won 31–17. Dagg's second test try came in dramatic circumstances against South Africa on 21 August 2010 at
FNB Stadium First National Bank Stadium or simply FNB Stadium, also known as Soccer City and The Calabash, is an association football (soccer) and Rugby union stadium located in Nasrec, bordering the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. The site is m ...
near Soweto, Johannesburg. With the scores level at 22-all, in the last minute of play, Dagg backed up a break by Ma'a Nonu to score the game-winning try for a 29–22 result.


2011

In the pool rounds of the
2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...
Dagg became one of the tournament's top try scorers. He scored the tournament's first try in the first half of the opening game against
Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...
before adding another try before half time in the same game. His next try came in the 22nd minute of the All Blacks pool match against
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. In total, he scored five tries in the tournament. That was the second most at the tournament. Dagg's inclusion saw Mils Muliaina displaced from the All Blacks starting XV, with Muliaina only two caps away from his 100th test. Dagg played in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
against France, which the All blacks won. Following the completion of the Rugby World Cup, the IRB's Rugby News Service listed Dagg as one of the Top 5 players of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.


2012

Dagg was named in the 30-man test squad to play
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in New Zealand. He started all three games at fullback. In the second match he received a yellow card for shoulder charging a kicker late. In the third match, he scored a try off a
Sonny Bill Williams Sonny William Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the cou ...
grubber kick. He also kicked a conversion while Aaron Cruden was injured. The All Blacks won the test series. Dagg started in all of the 2012 Rugby Championship matches for the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
. He scored in the first match of the Rugby Championship against the Wallabies. It came from a set piece move involving Dan Carter. He scored in the second match of the rugby championship against the Wallabies off a pass from Sonny Bill Williams. He scored his third try of the championship against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
from offloads by Sam Whitelock then
Kieran Read Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of ...
. The All Blacks won the Bledisloe Cup and the Rugby Championship trophy. On the end of year tour he started in the matches against Scotland, Wales and the All Blacks' only defeat of the year against England - injuring himself in the Scotland test which ruled him out for the Italy test and almost ruled him out for the Wales test.


2013

Dagg played in every single match of 2013 except for the match against Japan in Tokyo. He was on a try drought but was in some of his best form in setting up tries for his teammates as the All Blacks won every game that year to complete the first undefeated season.


2014

Dagg had injury trouble in the first test against England, ruling him out of the rest of the series. Regular right wing Ben Smith was used to cover Dagg's injuries and played so well that he took the fullback jersey for the first two Bledisloe tests. Dagg was the given another shot against Argentina in his home province and played well enough to shift Smith back to right wing for the rest of the rugby championship. Against England on the end of year tour, Dagg got shown up on defence by Jonny May and lost his fullback spot to Smith for the last test against Wales.


2015

Dagg had a major injury-plagued year in 2015, only managing 5 games for the Crusaders and 3 tests for the All Blacks causing Dagg to narrowly miss out on being picked for New Zealand's
2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...
squad. Dagg subsequently returned to Hawke's Bay to play for the Magpies and scored a hat-trick against Otago, but was injured playing his 50th game. Dagg's latest injury required shoulder surgery, ruling him out for the rest of the Magpies' Mitre 10 cup-winning year.


2016

Dagg made a recovery from his shoulder injury, returning to the Crusaders for the
2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...
. Due to an injury to Nehe Milner-Skudder and his great form for the Crusaders (5 tries in his first 5 games), Dagg was then re-selected for New Zealand, being named in the 32-man squad for the All Blacks' three-match series against Wales. He played at fullback for two games, scoring tries in each. Ben Smith was shifted back to fullback for the
2016 Rugby Championship The 2016 Rugby Championship was the fifth edition of the annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, South Africa ...
, with Dagg moved out to wing for the series. Dagg scored 2 tries against Australia in Wellington on his debut as the right wing, allowing New Zealand to once again win the Bledisloe Cup. He cemented his place as the All Blacks' first choice right wing, completing his comeback by finishing the competition as the joint highest try scorer with Ben Smith. The two players scored 5 tries each across the 6 matches played. He also notably kicked a 47-metre penalty against Argentina. On the end of year tour, he was rested for the first game against Ireland - the only game lost by the All Blacks that year - but he scored tries against Italy and France, the latter of which he returned to the fullback jersey with Smith out injured. Dagg finished 2016 as the highest try-scorer of the year for the All Blacks, beating the team's new first-choice fly-half and World Rugby Player of The Year-
Beauden Barrett Beauden John Barrett (born 27 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a First five-eighth or Fullback for the Blues in Super Rugby and Taranaki in the Bunnings NPC. Barrett won the World Rugby Player of the Year awards ...
and Ben Smith by one try. Dagg scored 10 in total from the 12 games he played in 2016.


2017

Despite missing a chunk of the Crusaders' Super Rugby winning campaign due to knee surgery in 2017, Dagg was retained as the first-choice right winger for the All Blacks' series against the
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
and Pasifica Challenge against Samoa. Dagg scored a try in the 78–0 victory against Samoa and set up debutant Vaea Fifita for his first test try. Dagg was a standout performer against the Lions in the first test, which was a 30–15 victory and in the second test he was moved to fullback which was a historic 24–21 loss to the Lions. Dagg started the third test on the wing again as he surpassed Jonah Lomu and Sir John Kirwan as the second-to-most capped All Blacks winger, second only to former teammate Joe Rokocoko. He missed the first two tests against Australia through injury but returned to play against Argentina and scored a try before being replaced as he had sustained a season-ending injury.


2018

Isarel Dagg made just four appearances for the Crusaders in 2018, his season being cut short by a high tackle in May. In July, Dagg signed a short term contract for Canon Eagles in Japan ruling himself out for the All Blacks for the rest of 2018. Dagg managed three games for Canon before his troublesome knee forced him to cut short his Japan stint.


2019

In April 2019, Dagg announced his retirement from rugby. Plagued by a long term knee injury which had prevented him from starting the season, Dagg received medical advice to hang up his boots.


Television

Dagg appeared in the New Zealand 2023 television series, ''Clubhouse Rescue'' alongside Stephen Donald and Hamish Dodd.


Personal life

Dagg has been married to wife Daisy since 2015. They have two children, a son Arlo who was born in April 2017 and a daughter, Tilly born in May 2018. In 2015, he appeared in a ''
Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have ...
''-themed safety ad for
Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...
with singer Stan Walker and actor Rip Torn.


References


External links

*
ESPN Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dagg, Israel New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Crusaders (rugby union) players Hawke's Bay rugby union players 1988 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings People educated at Lindisfarne College, New Zealand New Zealand international rugby sevens players New Zealand male rugby sevens players People from Marton, New Zealand New Zealand Māori rugby union players Ngāti Kahungunu people 2011 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen