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.
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.
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
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
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments