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All Blacks star Caleb Clarke one of three Super Rugby players set to chase gold medal at Tokyo Olympics
New Zealand Rugby [NZR] have confirmed All Blacks star Caleb Clarke has committed to to chasing an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo later this year.
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A former All Blacks Sevens representative, Clarke returned to the national sevens set-up in Tauranga on Monday and will be one of three Super Rugby players competing for a place in head coach Clark Laidlaw’s squad to travel to the Japanese capital in July.
The five-test wing will be joined by Chiefs speedster Etene Nanai-Seturo, another All Blacks Sevens veteran, as the fresh faces heading into the national side’s headquarters straight out of the Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign.
The other Super Rugby player involved in the All Blacks Sevens squad is Highlanders utility back Vilimoni Koroi, who missed the Super Rugby Aotearoa season and has been training with Laidlaw’s squad since the end of last year’s Mitre 10 Cup.
Laidlaw was allowed to pick one player from each Kiwi Super Rugby franchise in his squad to prepare for the Olympics.
However, Hurricanes flyer Salesi Rayasi, who was involved in the national sevens set-up last year, turned down the chance to compete at the Olympics to stay with the Wellington franchise ahead of the upcoming Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition.
No player from the Crusaders, meanwhile, were selected.
Clarke debuted for the All Blacks Sevens in 2018 and has gone on to play 25 matches for New Zealand on the World Sevens Series circuit.
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Featuring in last year’s successful campaign where they won the World Sevens Series title, the 22-year-old eyed up a place in the Olympics squad before the outbreak of COVID-19 forced a year-long postponement of the Games.
He then went on to star for the Blues in last year’s inaugural edition of Super Rugby Aotearoa and was rewarded with a test debut against the Wallabies in October.
Nanai-Seturo also debuted for the All Blacks Sevens in 2018 and has been a regular member of the national side over the past three years, featuring 61 times on the World Sevens Series over that period.
Like Clarke, Nanai-Seturo was part of last year’s World Sevens Series-winning All Blacks Sevens squad and was also involved in the gold medal-winning side at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Chiefs chief executive Michael Collins has responded to allegations that his franchise’s players may have been involved in unruly behaviour at a hotel following their Super Rugby Aotearoa final defeat. #SuperRugbyAotearoa https://t.co/NhMKZQSaw0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 10, 2021
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Both players’ commitment to the sevens programme means they will be unavailable to play in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and, in the case of Clarke, won’t be available for All Blacks selection throughout the July test series.
Although New Zealand’s July tests are yet to be confirmed, it’s believed the All Blacks will play Fiji in two tests and Samoa in a one-off encounter over that period.
The Olympic men’s sevens tournament is scheduled to take place at Tokyo Stadium between 26-28 July, while the Olympics as a whole is set to run from July 23 to August 8.
Clarke would also have to spend two weeks in a managed isolation facility upon his return from Japan, possibly ruling him out of the All Blacks’ opening Bledisloe Cup tests against the Wallabies, which are scheduled for August 7, August 14 and August 21.
Nevertheless, Clarke said he was excited to be back in the All Blacks Sevens environment.
The Waratahs have revealed they had the opportunity to sign world-class Argentine loose forward Pablo Matera for the 2022 Super Rugby season, but decided not to.https://t.co/SfUC5DoUG3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 10, 2021
“Going to the Olympics would be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I’m looking forward to get back into training and putting my best foot forward,” he said in a statement.
Laidlaw was just as excited to welcome both Clarke and Nanai-Seturo back into his squad after a prolonged period away with their Super Rugby sides.
“They’ve been a big part of our team over the past two or three years, so it feels quite natural them coming back into our environment,” Laidlaw said.
“The communication and connection has stayed strong in this period so now its about realigning them with how we are doing things and get them back up to speed with our game.
“They are both fit, fast and strong so physically they’ll slot in, our game has evolved a bit in the past six months though so some of the technical and tactical stuff will be really important to get right.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Interesting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
22 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
1 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
22 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to commentsPlaying the boks twice in a season is the definition of an abusive relationship…Jenny, get help
1 Go to commentsWatching the SA series no AI will motivate players like a Human can cause no matter your IP if you lack the hype to be super human or the level to go to the deep dark places you simply can’t win big games. France Ireland All Blacks and SA will surely get this AI but the end of the day it's luck and believe that matters
22 Go to comments