ALL BLACKS WINGER Israel Dagg has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury, which kept him out of the big win over South Africa last weekend.
Dagg aggravated a long-standing issue in a 39-22 victory over Argentina in the Rugby Championship earlier this month, which was his sole outing of the competition.
Steve Hansen had offered a downcast review on Dagg’s fitness when ruling the 29-year-old out of last week’s Test against South Africa, which New Zealand won by a crushing 57-0 scoreline.
It was their biggest ever victory over the Springboks, as they maintained a 100% record in the competition.
“It doesn’t look great at this stage,” he said.
“It looks like he might need some time away from the game but until I get more information it would be pointless to tell you how long or what is wrong.”
The All Blacks revealed on Twitter that Dagg does not require surgery to fix the issue, but he will play no part in the remainder of the Rugby Championship.
He will also be excluded from New Zealand’s November tour of the Northern Hemisphere, which sees them take on France and Wales among five matches.
Dagg underwent knee surgery in March after picking up an injury playing for Crusaders in Super Rugby, but he returned to fitness in time to play in all three of the All Blacks’ Tests against the British and Irish Lions.
He joins experienced prop Owen Franks and breakout star of the Lions tour, Jordie Barrett, in sitting out the rest of 2017 due to injury.
Additional reporting by Sinéad Farrell.
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