Dalton Papalii

He played rugby league, his family's sport, in his early years but switched to rugby union as a youngster, when he had the chance to go to Saint Kentigern College.[5] He went on to captain his school's First XV, and won the 2015 Grant Dalton Cup after captaining them to the title by beating Auckland Grammar School in the final.

In 2015 he led the New Zealand national schoolboy rugby union team to victory over Australia.[6]

After school, Papalii joined the Auckland development programme and also represented his local club Pakuranga. He played for the Blues under-18 squad before going on to captain the Blues under-20s in 2016 and the Blues A team in 2017. He won the Blues Development Player of the Year twice, in 2016 and 2017, the same year in which he made his senior Auckland debut.[7]

In 2018 he made his Super Rugby debut against the Chiefs as a second half replacement. With Blake Gibson out for much of the season, he was given his chance with seven appearances, five of them as a starter, until he also was sidelined later in the season with injury.[7] Dalton carried his rich vein of form into Auckland’s Mitre 10 Cup campaign, leading the competition tackle statistics with 169[6] and battering defences with his hard running.[7]

In 2020, Papalii decided to change provinces, leaving Auckland and signing with Counties Manukau. Tai Lavea, the Steeler's coach, had coached Papalii at Saint Kentigern College and convinced him to make the switch.[8] That same year he established himself as a key component of the Blues back row trio during the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition[9][10]

Dalton was part of the New Zealand U20 squad that won the 2017 Junior World Championship hosted by Georgia. He earned praise for his performances[11] and was lauded by coach Craig Philpott for his leadership skills.[12]

After a stellar season in Auckland’s Mitre 10 Cup 2018 campaign, he was somewhat surprisingly called into the 32 man All Blacks squad for their northern tour to Japan and Europe, just weeks after his 21st birthday. The call came after injury to 60-test veteran and All Black Captain, Sam Cane.[6] Getting the call meant a lot for the Papalii family, as his mum broke down in tears upon hearing his name on the list.[13]

Papalii made his international debut for New Zealand on 3 November 2018, starting in the All Blacks' 69-31 victory over Japan at the Ajinomoto Stadium. In doing so, he became the first Pakuranga player to represent the All Blacks.[2]

His performance against Japan enabled him to earn a spot on the bench for the final test of 2018, against Italy, where he replaced the in-form Ardie Savea 48 minutes into the 66-3 victory over Italy.

With an All Blacks tour under his belt, 2019 saw Dalton become a regular feature in the Blues back row earning 21 caps in total. Another All Blacks call up beckoned during the Rugby Championship, playing against the Springboks in Wellington.

After the Blues' disappointing 2019 Super Rugby season, Papalii was retained in the All Blacks' squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship, having put in excellent performances across the season.[14][15] With All Black Vice-Captain, Sam Cane, back from a broken neck, Papalii only made one appearance in the competition, replacing Highlanders blindside flanker, Shannon Frizell, for the final four minutes of a test against South Africa, which ended in a 16-16 draw.

Papalii can cover both flanker positions, being deployed at blindside or openside,[2] despite being considered by some to be too big to play openside. About his preferred position, he says "Six or seven, I'm not too sure. If I get on that field, I'm going to try and do my best for the team. I prefer to play six, but six, seven or eight I don't mind, I just want to do my bit for the team."[16]

He cites Wallabies captain Michael Hooper as his favourite rugby player, thanks to his "relentless effort off the ball...a deadly player on attack and defence with the desire to win in every aspect of play in rugby and off".[2]

Papalii is renowned for his tackling skills,[17] regularly averaging around 20 tackles a game on his Auckland days.[2] He also stands out for his strong running, great ball skills and overall work-rate around the park.[6] Papalii credits Auckland forwards coach and former All Black Filo Tiatia for his constant progress: "I felt like I’ve learnt a lot off Filo, the forwards coach," Papali’i said. "But around my game, I knew the qualities of a seven, tackling and stuff, but they [the coaching staff] were showing me different ways of how to get to rucks and stuff like that."[17]