Dalton Papali'i

Early life and education 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. 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.

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. That same year he established himself as a key component of the Blues back row trio during the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition. In 2024, he was part of the Blues team which won the Super Rugby Pacific title.

In February 2026, Papali’i announced that he would be leaving Auckland Blues and New Zealand rugby at the end of the 2026 season. He signed a deal with French Top 14 team Castres Olympique, for the 2027 season.

International career 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 and was lauded by coach Craig Philpott for his leadership skills.

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. Getting the call meant a lot for the Papali'i family, as his mum broke down in tears upon hearing his name on the list.

Papali'i 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. With All Black Vice-Captain, Sam Cane, back from a broken neck, Papali'i 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.

Style of play Papali'i can cover both flanker positions, being deployed at blindside or openside,

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". regularly averaging around 20 tackles a game on his Auckland days. He also stands out for his strong running, great ball skills and overall work-rate around the park. Papali'i 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."