Dagg prepared to step up to the tee if needed
With Dan Carter sitting out the South African league of the Crusaders Super XV campaign as he and his wife prepare for the arrival of their first child, and Tom Taylor battling to recover from a knee injury, it looks as though Israel Dagg will be the understudy to Tyler Blyendaal when it comes to the kicking duties.
At Crusaders’ training late last week we noticed that while Carter spent plenty of time with Blyendaal, no doubt passing on some of the knowledge that has helped him establish himself as the highest points-scorer in test rugby history, Dagg was also doing a considerable amount of kicking practise off the tee.
It was interesting to see Dagg kicking in his adidas RS7 ‘speedboots’ too, as opposed to the adidas Predator Incurzas, a boot designed specifically for kickers, and the boot of choice for both Carter and Blydendaal. Although not regularly seen kicking goals Dagg is renowned for his prodigious punt, and he was hitting his shots at goal reasonably sweetly on the day we saw him in action.