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‘Motivated’ Clarke ‘in great nick’ and primed to bounce back for Blues

Leon MacDonald tells Marc Hinton that hot competition among his star outside backs will bring the best out in an All Black wing on the comeback trail.

Remember Caleb Clarke? Not so long ago he was the find of the season and a breakout All Blacks star as he tore apart the Wallabies in a virtuoso Bledisloe Cup performance on Eden Park.

The power-packed 107kg Auckland and Blues wing made his big move in 2020 when, on the back of an outstanding Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, he was called into coach Ian Foster’s first All Blacks squad for the pared-back Rugby Championship/Bledisloe campaign and made every post a winner ,on the back of a gameturning display in his first test start on his home ground.

Clarke started four of his five tests for Foster in 2020, and played in all but the Brisbane defeat to the Wallabies in the sixmatch campaign. His mix of power and speed on the left wing even drew comparisons to some of the great No 11s of the past, including Jonah Lomu and Va’aiga Tuigamala. Then came 2021 and a choice that would change the narrative of the Clarke story for the time being.

He played out the Super Aotearoa campaign with the Blues and continued to impress, even if he was being used more in a battering-ram type role by a side struggling to assert their superiority up front.

Then, about the time that Aotearoa morphed into TransTasman, and the Blues into a formidable side, Clarke departed the franchise to pitch his lot in with the New Zealand sevens side in their mission for Olympic gold in Tokyo. Well, that didn’t go so well. Clarke missed the cut for the Games and was forced to watch on from a nearby hotel in Japan as an unused standby, while Clark Laidlaw’s side secured silver. Meanwhile, the Blues were charging to their first Super Rugby title in 18 years with Mark Telea and Bryce Heem on the wings, and Foster moved on without Clarke in his All Blacks squad.

But, if Blues head coach Leon MacDonald is any judge, the forgotten man of the New Zealand game could be a name back on everyone’s lips before too long.

The 22-year-old wing is understood to be supremely motivated to re-prove himself in the Blues environment in next year’s inaugural season of Super Rugby Pacific, and MacDonald has already seen more than enough to feel encouraged about that.

‘‘Caleb has just got settled in again. It was a bit of a topsy-turvy year, with the sevens, then with XVs, and then in Japan, in MIQ and lockdown for a long time.

‘‘It’s been a tough 12 months for Caleb and the familiarity of the Blues environment will be really good,’’ said MacDonald. ‘‘He’s enjoyed his training, he looks in fantastic nick and is really motivated. We’ve got a lot of depth in our outside backs and that competition is going to bring the best out of him, and keep pushing him.’’

He said early signs were positive that Clarke was invigorated by the challenge of competing with Heem, Telea, AJ Lam, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Zarn Sullivan in a stacked outside backs contingent.

‘‘He’s already found a group who are doing the extras, working hard on skillsets and talking about how he can evolve his game to become even more of a threat. This time he’s got now is important for him to settle back in. It’s an exciting year for Caleb and a

‘‘Caleb has just got settled in again. It was a bit of a topsy-turvy year, with the sevens, then with XVs, and then in Japan, in MIQ and lockdown for a long time.’’ Blues coach Leon MacDonald

chance for him to take a bit of pressure off himself and get back on the grass and play a bit of rugby again.’’

At the other end of the spectrum, MacDonald expects halfback Finlay Calder to come in

pumped after his first All Blacks campaign. ‘‘Finlay epitomises the character you want in a player.

‘‘He’s determined, hardworking and has resilience — he was one of our leading players the way he went about his work and grew his game, and became a big factor in us winning the transTasman title.

‘‘We’ve got Beauden [Barrett] back and to have a quality nine like Finlay inside him is going to help our team enormously.’’

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2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282527251721475

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