All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg has told an English newspaper that had the All Blacks lost one of their last three play-off games at the Rugby World Cup, he and wing Cory Jane could have been pilloried as much as England's Mike Tindall.
Dagg told The Evening Standard while on promotions work for Adidas at Harrods, that the booze session with Jane 72 hours before the quarter-final against Argentina could have resulted in the pair getting the same sort of flak endured by Tindall after a drunken night out with England in Queenstown.
Dagg was injured and out of consideration for the game but Jane was in the side, and went on to make a big statement during the game with his performance.
All Blacks manager Darren Shand made the point of the way the pair were treated in the All Blacks camp when he said: "They [Dagg and Jane] are the ones who are going to face the consequences now because they are going to be known – particularly across the country – as the guys who let the team down."
Dagg told The Standard: "It was a silly, silly thing that Cory and I did that night. We had been locked up in a hotel and we wanted to get out for a bit and went a bit too hard. But we came together as a team and we felt we redeemed ourselves.
"We had plenty of criticism, too, but it's good teams that deal with those things and win World Cups. I'm sure if we'd lost one of our tight games we would have been slaughtered just as much [as Tindall]."
Dagg said he felt sorry for England because the Tindall affair was 'rumbling' through the tournament.
"It's a media thing, they like to blow things up.
"England are going through some tough times now but I'm sure they'll get through it. They are a great nation and play some great footy," he said.
Meanwhile, Dagg also commented on the prospect of former All Blacks backs coach Wayne Smith being secured in the England coaching team.
Smith would certainly bring discipline to the England team, Dagg said.
"Wayne doesn't take any rubbish. He's serious. Off the field he will have a laugh with you, he'll joke with you. But when it's time for work he wants you to knuckle down. He lets you know if you aren't being professional in your approach or if you aren't playing or training how you should be. He's a great man.
"He is one of the best coaches in the world. He's be really missed by the All Blacks. Hopefully, he doesn't bring over all his stuff to England and give them a few bullets to get back at us.
"If England got him, they'd grow another arm and leg. He's just a hell of a coach," he said.