All Blacks: Israel Dagg's always had x-factor, says Mum

Israel Dagg offloads the ball which led to Ma'a Nonu's try as beaten Wallaby first five-eighths Quade Cooper looks on in the semifinal against Australia last week Eden Park. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Not much gets Israel Dagg down. He was pretty chilled out even when he took his new boat out after Christmas and discovered, when they dropped anchor, they had no sinkers or hooks on board for the fishing trip.

In his day job, if the fullback makes a rare hash of something on the footy field, he flicks his shoulder as if to get rid of the devil. His mother, Horiana Nukutarawhiti, says her son has always been calm and relaxed - when he was young, little got him down.

"Ever since he was a kid he's been like that. You wonder what he's going to pull one out of the bag, but that's just the way he is.

"He just goes for it. He's got an eye for the game and knows where he is at with it."

That's as you would expect a proud mother to talk, but when Dagg was picked by the Highlanders in 2009, he was not so assured.

He was always in competition with his buddy Zac Guildford from their time at school in the Hawkes Bay to win at cards, PlayStation and any other contest.

That year Guildford beat his buddy to be first into the All Blacks.

Down south, the All Black selectors sat down with Highlanders coach Peter Russell to give some messages and support to Dagg.

One of them asked Dagg to imagine he was holding a wad of cash in his hand and asked whether the youngster would go away and do all the things he needed to earn that as an All Black.

When Dagg nodded his head he was advised to go away and do it.

"I think that was one of the turning points for Izzy," Russell said. "That night he came over with George Naoupu and Jayden Hayward and cooked dinner for me, something he'd never done before.

"I think the penny dropped that his mate had made it and he hadn't, when everyone thought it would be the other way round."

On Sunday, Dagg will play his 12th international in the Rugby World Cup decider. He made the squad after beating a lengthy thigh injury, and with Mils Muliaina damaged in his 100th test, Dagg has eased into the black fullback jersey.

"His instincts for rugby are brilliant and if he trusts those then he is always going to be a great player," assistant coach Steve Hansen said. "But if he starts to question his own instincts then you will see him do things that aren't normal for him and he will lose his form."

Dagg saw the game differently, said Hansen, and that was part of the charm of his rugby skills.

His mother remembers the sixth of her seven children always having the x-factor at any sport he tried. Sporting threads ran through the family and granddad Pat had played rugby for Otago.

"Israel just seemed to have that knack, he had that natural ability and applied himself with his father's height and my speed," she laughed.

Family were heading to Eden Park from around New Zealand, Perth and Melbourne, she said. "We're gonna raise that cup."

Russell was sure his former pupil would acquit himself well in the final and wondered whether a few different scenarios might play out. Dagg was such an attacking threat, the French might shut him down with their chase line, but that would leave room for others in the backline to ignite.

He also wondered whether Dagg might be given a long-range penalty attempt because he had shown that potential with the Highlanders.

"He is one of the most gifted players I have seen and, while there are parts of his game yet to develop, Izzy is a very dangerous and exciting player."