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Blues eager to keep breakout star Caleb Clarke as questions arise about Olympics ambitions

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Blues head coach Leon MacDonald has made no secret about his desire to keep star wing Caleb Clarke at the Auckland franchise next season following his breakout campaign this season.

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Whether or not the 21-year-old powerhouse will stay in the XV-man game remains in question, however, as a result of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to next year.

Clarke was a member of the All Blacks Sevens squad in the 2019-20 World Sevens Series after agreeing to skip the 2020 Super Rugby season in pursuit of attending the Tokyo Games with the aim of winning a gold medal.

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Those plans were scuppered when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the quadrennial event to be pushed back 12 months, which in turn allowed Clarke to return to the Blues ahead of Super Rugby Aotearoa.

It’s proved to be a blessing in disguise for MacDonald’s side, as the youngster has enjoyed a stellar run of form that has thrust him well into the discussions of All Blacks selection.

His immense physical stature has provided the Blues with no shortage of pace and power on the left wing, while the subtleties in his game have made him a multi-dimensional force to be reckoned with.

Clarke could well be interested in resuming his quest for Olympic glory once next season’s global sevens schedule is established, but he now has far more to consider than when he first signed up to New Zealand’s sevens program.

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He stands as a probable inclusion in Ian Foster’s maiden All Blacks squad, which is due to be named on August 30, and if he can replicate the sort of form he has shown domestically on the international stage, he can expect to stay there for a long time.

Whether he sees chasing an Olympic gold medal ahead of establishing himself as a bona fide All Black as a risk worth taking remains to be seen, but MacDonald made it clear he would like Clarke to return to the Blues rather the All Blacks Sevens in 2021.

“It’s a big decision for him,” MacDonald told media following the Blues’ 32-21 victory over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Sunday.

“Obviously we’d love for him to stay at the Blues, but it’s a big decision he’ll have to make at some point soon.”

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Not for the first time this year, the Highlanders felt the wrath of Clarke’s talents at Forsyth Barr Stadium over the weekend, as the former New Zealand U20 star played a key role in three of his side’s five tries.

His powerful running and offloading prowess were key to the Blues’ win, which kept their Super Rugby Aotearoa title hopes alive.

“You walk next to him and he’s a big lad, I think he’s nearly 110kg,” MacDonald said of Clarke’s hefty 1.89m, 107kg frame.

“He moves really well off his feet, good balance, he’s great in the air, so there’s a lot to like about his game and he’s got a good work ethic off the field as well.

“He works really hard on the small parts of his game, like his kicking and handling, so if he continues like this, keeps his head down, he’s got a big future.”

Observing a bye this week, the Blues will be reliant on the Highlanders producing an upset win over the league-leading Crusaders in Christchurch this Sunday to set up a do-or-die final round clash between the Blues and Crusaders next week.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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