Papalii confident and looking to impress after being named at 7

The All Blacks may have lost captain Sam Cane for the remainder of their northern tour, but it’s not like his replacement is short on self-belief.

With Cane having headed home thanks to a double fracture in his cheekbone suffered against Japan in Tokyo last weekend, Papalii now has a clear run to make his mark in the open side flanker role.

Dalton Papalii is named to start there against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday morning, and with two more big tests to follow against Scotland and England.

Papalii says he is pretty happy to be going in the seven jersey again, but nothing really changes, he says he is pretty used to it, all of last year he got the opportunity to play a lot and he is pretty confident.

He says he is feeling comfortable, a bit on edge, which is a good thing, nerves are still there, and it means you’re in the right spot, so he is looking forward to a big one.

The All Blacks play Wales at 3.15am tomorrow.

Source: Stuff.co