17 Aug 2011

Isreal Dagg says he has to have faith in himself

6:47 pm on 17 August 2011

Having recovered from a rare injury the All Blacks fullback/wing Israel Dagg hopes to seize his one chance to make the World Cup squad when New Zealand take on South Africa in a Tri-Nations rugby test in Port Elizabeth on Sunday morning,

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Dagg's played only one match for his club and one for Hawke's Bay since he has surgery after rupturing a quadicreps tendon in his right thigh in May.

He says when he realised the severity and unusual nature of injury he thought his World Cup hopes had ended as there were only two case studies in the world.

Dagg says team doctors talked to counterparts in the NFL in the United States and the AFL in Australia and they hadn't dealt with the injury either.

He says he's had to have faith in the doctors' advice and in himself and so far it seems to be paying off.

Dagg is likely to be at fullback when the team's named tomorrow night.

The World Cup squad will be named on Brisbane next Tuesday.