Israel Jamahl Akuhata Dagg (born 6 June 1988) is a former New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who played for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. He has also played for the New Zealand Sevens team, and represents

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tek ...

. 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 large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

. 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) and Samoan descent through his grandmother.

Early career

While in high school, Dagg represented

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 current

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

coach,

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team, having previously coached New Zealand sides the Chiefs, , ...

, and former

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competit ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

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 ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

debut against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) 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, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...

on 12 June 2010. He was again capped against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

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 Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina (born 31 July 1980) is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a ...

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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. 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 and

Pierre Spies Pierre Johan Spies (born 8 June 1985 in Pretoria) is a retired South African rugby union player. He usually played as a Number 8, but could also play as a flanker and at times was deployed on the wing. Between 2005 and 2015, he spent the major ...

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 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 Ma'a Allan Nonu (; born 21 May 1982) is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing. ...

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 International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

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 ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

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 primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In total, he scored five tries in the tournament. That was the second most at the tournament. Dagg's inclusion saw

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 (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

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

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 Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in ...

grubber kick. He also kicked a conversion while

Aaron Cruden Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Chiefs and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is first five-eighth (fly half). Early life Crud ...

was injured. The All Blacks won the test series. Dagg started in all of the

2012 Rugby Championship The 2012 Rugby Championship was the inaugural annual rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as ''The Castle Rugby Cham ...

matches for the

. He scored in the first match of the Rugby Championship against the

. It came from a set piece move involving

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...

. 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

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 The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...

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

He 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 Jonathan James May (born 1 April 1990) is a professional rugby union player for Gloucester in Premiership Rugby and for the national team. He plays as a winger and is known for his speed and try scoring. He began his senior career at Glouces ...

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 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 on ...

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 Arg ...

. 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, 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-meter 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. He plays as a First five-eighth (fly-half) and fullback for Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup, the Blues in Super Rugby and New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. ...

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, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

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 Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarde ...

and

Sir John Kirwan Sir John Kirwan (1650–1721) was an Irish merchant and politician who founded the Kirwans of Castle Hackett, County Galway. Background Kirwan was a member of one of the Tribes of Galway. The family were of Gaelic origin, possibly of Conmhaíc ...

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.

Personal life

Dagg has been married to wife Daisy since 2015. They have 2 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 purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses ...

'' themed safety ad for

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

with singer

Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh and last season of ''Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contract ...

and actor

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...

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