Background
Israel Dagg was born in Marton, New Zealand and attended Lindisfarne College in Hastings, Hawke"s Bay.
Israel Dagg was born in Marton, New Zealand and attended Lindisfarne College in Hastings, Hawke"s Bay.
Dagg attended the Advanced Course at the International Rugby Academy (IRANZ) in April 2006.
Dagg is of Māori descent. While in high school, Dagg represented Hawke"s Bay at Under 16 and Under 19 level His course facilitator was current Chiefs coach, Dave Rennie, and former Otago, Otago Highlanders and New Zealand 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. 2010
Dagg made his All Blacks debut against Ireland in New Plymouth on 12 June 2010.
He was again capped against Wales 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.
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 before dancing his way to the try line.
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 to score the game-winning try for a 29–22 result. 2011
In the pool rounds of the 2011 Rugby World Cup 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 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.
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. Following the completion of the Rugby World Cup, the Institutional Review Board"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 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 grubber kick. He also kicked a conversion while Aaron Cruden was injured.
Dagg started in all of the 2012 Rugby Championship matches for the All Blacks.
He scored in the first match of the Rugby Championship against the Wallabies. lieutenant 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 from offloads by Sam Whitelock then Kieran Read.
Dagg narrowly missed out on being picked for New Zealand"s 2015 Rugby World Cup squad. Dagg was dismissed for Waisake Naholo, who had recently recovered from a broken legal
Dagg subsequently returned to the Magpies, but was injured playing his 50th cap. Dagg made a recovery from his shoulder injury, returning to the Crusaders for the 2016 Super Rugby season.