Israel Dagg sprints in a try at fulltime against Wales during the third and final test match between the All Blacks and Wales. Photo / Brett Phibbs
One statistic from last night's test by itself should make Israel Dagg particularly proud and Wales much less so of their own performance.
The fullback ran with the ball for 196m, a figure boosted by a near length-of-the-field try at the death. Wales ran for a total of only 193m.
Dagg may have contributed to Julian Savea's early error in dropping the ball as he loitered a bit too closely to the No 11, but he didn't do much else wrong and, with his confidence sky-high after a good season with the Crusaders, coach Steven Hansen suggested he could be difficult to leave out of the squad to play Australia in the Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney on August 20.
At the very least, Hansen has a lot of options for that back three. Last night Savea, Dagg and Ben Smith made up that trio. If they, plus Waisake Naholo, stay injury-free, Hansen could have some difficult decisions to make.
"He gives us a massive option, Benny [Smith] gives us a massive option, with Wise [Naholo] on one wing and Jules on the other, so we'll need to make some choices when they're all playing well," Hansen said. "His form at the moment is going to make it very difficult to leave him out. Bender's [Smith] form - he had an outstanding game as well on the wing. It doesn't matter where you play him, he's such a good rugby player, so both of them will be there somewhere.
