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Injury sadly forces All Black Israel Dagg to call it quits at just the age of 30
All Black Israel Dagg is hanging up his boots after announcing his retirement from rugby. The injury-enforced announcement comes after 30-year-old’s long-term knee injury didn’t allow him to train and play at an elite level, so after taking medical advice he has decided to retire.
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The revelation brings the curtain down on a stellar rugby career which began in 2006 when Dagg made his debut as an 18 year old for his Hawke’s Bay provincial side. He ends his career having played 66 Tests for the All Blacks over eight years (2010-2017), 89 matches for the Crusaders (2011-2018), 25 games for the Highlanders (2009-2010), and 50 appearances for his beloved Hawke’s Bay Magpies (2006-2015).
While disappointed that his fantastic rugby career has been ended by injury, Dagg is also philosophical and says he’s grateful to have had such a long and successful career, which included a Rugby World Cup win in 2011 and numerous other successful campaigns with the All Blacks, and back-to-back Super Rugby championships with the Crusaders in 2017 and 2018.
“It’s been an honour to represent the All Blacks, Crusaders and Hawke’s Bay over the years and I’m incredibly proud to have worn each of those jerseys throughout my career.
“While it’s bittersweet to mark the end of my playing career, I’m grateful to still be able to contribute to this Crusaders team in 2019 and help prepare some of the younger squad members to take the next step in their own careers. On a personal note, I’m looking forward to taking on some new challenges in the future, and looking forward to spending more time with my young family.”
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New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew has led the tributes to Dagg. “On behalf of all rugby fans both here and around the world, I want to thank Israel for his stellar service to New Zealand rugby. He leaves us as one of the greats of our game and the second most capped All Blacks full-back of all time. He was an excitement machine on the rugby field and fans knew that when he got the ball in his hands that anything could happen.
“Israel came into professional rugby at a relatively young age but, injuries aside, was able to perform at the highest level for many years and certainly wore the All Blacks jersey with real pride and honour. We’ll miss having him play, but given his infectious personality and positive attitude, I’m sure the New Zealand public will still see plenty of Israel Dagg as he enters the next phase of his life. We wish him and his family all the very best.”
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BREAKING | Tributes flow as 66-Test All Black @izzy_dagg calls time on rugby career.
READ ➡️ https://t.co/aazRblBLpK pic.twitter.com/o3pGZ3eXQv
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) April 4, 2019
Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge said: “Izzy has had a wonderful Super Rugby career with our club, but it’s his personality that has ultimately endeared him to staff, his team mates and our Crusaders fans over such a long period of time. His ‘team first’ approach ensures he’ll continue to provide support to our group throughout the 2019 season, and we certainly wish him and his young family all the very best for the future.”
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson added: “Izzy has made such a massive contribution to the Crusaders both on and off the field over the past eight seasons. He’s a world-class player, a great team man and an absolute champion. He has been a huge part of the success of this team and his willingness to take the time to mentor the young guys coming through has been hugely important in their development.
“Izzy has been a leader within the Crusaders for a long time and has been driving our culture throughout his career. He’ll stay in our environment and remain an important part of this 2019 campaign – which shows the measure of the man.”
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said: “It’s always a shame when injury forces a player to retire, but ‘Izzy’ will leave our game knowing that he’ll forever be remembered as an outstanding player who definitely enhanced the All Blacks jersey and contributed to the legacy of the team.
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“He had an outstanding debut season for us in 2010, scoring that final try in the Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg, and then took that form into the Rugby World Cup in 2011 where he was one of the stars of the tournament, and he played a major part in the All Blacks being successful at that tournament.
“We’ll all miss his outstanding rugby skills on the field, but he was a real character off the field as well. We’ll look back fondly at his time in the black jersey – he’s a very special man and a very special player. We wish him, wife Daisy and his young family all the very best for what the future holds.”
Hawkes Bay Rugby CEO Jay Campbell added: “Israel was destined for greatness even before bursting onto the scene as a schoolboy superstar for the Magpies in 2006, and it’s no coincidence that his time in black and white saw unheralded success for the Magpies.
“While injury and his international commitments restricted his appearances in recent years, at his peak Izzy was one of the world’s finest players and he retires a Magpies legend whose legacy and outstanding contribution to rugby in Hawke’s Bay cannot be underestimated. On behalf of all Magpies fans, I wish him well in his post-rugby career.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
70 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
70 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
4 Go to comments