ISRAEL DAGG SHONE on his return to Super Rugby after seven months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, as he scored a brace of tries in the Crusaders’ 32-15 win over the Jaguares.
27-year-old Dagg was a surprise omission from the All Blacks’ World Cup squad last year, but the 49-times capped fullback showed his enduring class for the Crusaders against the Argentinian side.
Dagg scored two and provided the assisting pass for Andy Ellis’ effort, while out-half Richie Mo’unga and number eight Kieran Read also dotted down.
This victory – their sixth in seven games so far – sees Todd Blackadder’s side move up to second in the New Zealand Conference group standings.
The Jaguares managed two tries of their own through Facundo Isa and Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, but recorded their sixth defeat in seven games so far in their inaugural season of Super Rugby.
The Argentinians, whose squad is stacked with homegrown Test players, have struggled to adapt to the competition, though these remain early stages of the adventure. They have been competitive in several fixtures, but have also been incredibly loose in their attacking play.
Recent weeks have seen the Jaguares reel in the free-running, risky-offloading approach they utilised in the opening rounds, but even with a more simple game plan their handling and error count has let them down.
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