Dalton Papali’i aims to subdue Ardie Savea again in Saturday’s crucial Super Rugby Pacific match.
Papali’i’s improved physicality this season has reignited his All Blacks selection prospects.
A strong performance could boost Papali’i’s chances of rejoining the All Blacks squad.
If Dalton Papali’i’s magic trick last year was to make himself disappear, he’ll be hoping this Saturday to introduce a dramatic new twist by making Ardie Savea vanish.
The toughest assignment for any loose forward this year in Super Rugby has been to find a way todiffuse the influence of Moana Pasifika captain Savea, whose ability to inject himself meaningfully into each game has gone to a new level.
In that game, Savea’s influence was minimal because he was subdued by a powerful performance by the Blues trio of Anton Segner, Hoskins Sotutu and Papali’i.
There was no room for Savea to breathe in that game – he couldn’t find a way to get over the ball, or bash or bump himself into any space when he had it.
In terms of the two No 7s on view that day, it was a clear, knockout victory for Papali’i, whose overall portfolio of work this year has convinced in a way that perhaps it hasn’t in previous campaigns.
And at North Harbour this Saturday, Papali’i will endure the same test of his resolve when the Blues play Moana in a game that is effectively a playoff to make the playoffs for both sides.
If he can again find a way to subdue Savea, while contributing to what will inevitably be a tight, driving gameplan from the Blues, then Papali’i will presumably be putting himself back into the All Blacks’ selection conversation.
Quite what happened to him last year may not be a mystery to him or the All Blacks’ selectors, but it is to everyone else. Papali’i was in the No 7 jersey for the opening test of the year, and then not even in the match day 23 by midway through the Rugby Championship.
The return of Sam Cane was partly responsible for Papali’i’s demise. But the fact that there was no strong public narrative to throw any light on the story left an almost ominous sense that the Blues openside had disappointed the coaching staff to such an extent as to be almost unmentionable.
He became the forgotten man of New Zealand rugby, possibly because, fairly or not, the coaching team felt his game lacked the defensive crunch of others’.
There was constant messaging from the All Blacks coaches last year about their desire to pick loose forwards who delivered as much on defence as they did on attack, and it’s probably fair to say that in a straight comparison with fellow loose forward contenders Ethan Blackadder and Luke Jacobson, Papali’i wouldn’t win the vote as best and most effective tackler.
That’s not to say Papali’i is a weak or ineffective defender – it’s rather that the selectors presumably felt there were players offering more in that specific category, and he couldn’t tip the balance with what he offered as a better ball carrier and link player.
Dalton Papali'i in action for the All Blacks against England last year. Photo / Photosport
What makes it almost certain that this was the reason for Papali’i’s demise is the way he has played this year.
There’s been a decisive lift in Papali’i’s physical horsepower – an obvious sense that he’s come into 2025 with a greater desire and ability to indulge in collision warfare on both sides of the ball.
It’s hard to put a finger on it exactly, but he’s come across as a player who wants to spend longer in the heavy traffic.
Papali’i looks like a player who wants his courage to be tested; who wants to be banging bodies into the turf as much – if not more – than he wants to be scooting down the wing.
Papali’i has developed hard edges and borrowed heavily from the Sam Cane playbook of attacking like a seven but defending like a six.
He’s playing with a point to prove – perhaps to himself as much as anyone else, as Papali’i was being touted as a potential future All Blacks captain not so long ago and spent much of the period between 2021 and 2023, reading a media narrative that was promoting him to start ahead of Cane.
But undoubtedly he will be hoping the All Blacks selectors have noticed his operational refit and that it has been enough to convince them that he can be the player they need him to be.
And certainly another big performance this weekend will go some way towards doing that.
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