Caleb Clarke reveals shoulder injury update with return date in sight

All Blacks and Blues winger Caleb Clarke has revealed the extent of the shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for most of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour in South Africa.

Clarke was sent home before the first Test, after sustaining a shoulder injury in the second half of the midweek fixture against the Sharks in Durban.

The All Blacks outside back played on for the rest of the contest before post-match scans revealed a ruptured tendon in his shoulder.

The 27-year-old started on the left wing for Dave Rennie’s first-ever Test match as All Blacks head coach against France in Christchurch, before featuring off the bench against Ireland in Auckland.

Clarke joined the Sky Sport Breakdown panel on Sunday afternoon to discuss the latest on his injury, and when he may return for Jason Holland’s Blues in 2027.

“Yeah, [I’m] a few months away now. I’ll be back hopefully round two or three of Super Rugby Pacific next year,” Clarke said on Sky Sport.

“Did a good job at getting one of the tendons off the bone in the shoulder. So thankful to all the people that put me back together again, and now, yeah, got a lot of time to build to a really important year next year.”

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has been clear that stats contribute heavily to his selection philosophy, especially around the work rate of his players.

When asked what that philosophy has meant for the players, the 35-Test winger said it has created an incredibly competitive environment.

“I give so much credit to Rens and all the management that created such a great environment, not only for someone like myself, but for everyone to really thrive and compete for those spots.

“That’s what we talked about. Whether we’re putting our best foot forward in the gym, out in the community, just making sure that we’re putting in the hard yards, but at the same time we’re having a lot of fun.

“So again, we just really wanted to work hard and push each other at training because we all were vying for those spots, and there are only 23 that get to go out and represent.

“So again, Rennie did a great job in making sure that we were really competing against each other, but also making sure putting that team first.”