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Hurricanes sign NPC winner Tjay Clarke for 2025 Super Rugby season

TJay Clarke of Wellington passes during the Bunnings Warehouse NPC Final match between Wellington and Bay of Plenty at Sky Stadium, on October 26, 2024, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Following a series of impressive performances with the Wellington Lions in the National Provincial Championship (NPC), fullback Tjay Clarke has taken a significant step forward by signing with the Hurricanes for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.

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Clarke debuted for the Lions in the opening round of last year’s NPC season, but the outside back only managed to crack the First XV on three occasions. It was a different story in 2024, with coach Alando Soakai starting Clarke in 11 of 12 appearances for the Lions.

The 22-year-old started the season in sensational form and never looked back, scoring one try in each Lions match across the opening six rounds. Clarke would add one more to his individual tally against Hawke’s Bay in round nine before charging into the finals.

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With Clarke lining up at fullback, the Wellingtonians got the better of Counties Manukau and Waikato en route to the NPC Final. Clarke would end up playing 92 minutes in one of the more incredible deciders in NPC history, with the Lions taking out the title 23-20 in extra time.

 

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Born and raised in the Chatham Islands, Clarke travelled a unique path to get to this moment with the Hurricanes. The New Zealander moved to Perth and then Sydney, before returning to Wellington to play for St Pat’s Silverstream.

That’s where he met fellow Hurricanes Riley Higgins and Peter Lakai. The trio won the College First XV Final together, before playing club rugby for Petone, and then helping the Lions take out the province’s sixth NPC title in its history.

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“We moved to Sydney when I was around twelve, and my brother Sam and I were selected to play rugby league at Endeavour Sports High School,” Clarke said in a statement.

“I didn’t actually get back into rugby union until I moved back home and started playing for St Pat’s Silverstream.

“That’s the thing about rugby,” he added. “It’s all about the relationships you make. To be able to play with Riley and Peter across all these different grads is really special, especially with them being the quality players that they are.”

This is another exciting bit of business for the Hurricanes as they continue to add quality to their squad ahead of the 2025 season. In the middle of last month, the Canes announced that they’d signed North Harbour’s Kade Banks on a one-year deal.

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Banks was among the standouts during the NPC campaign, scoring 10 tries which included a four-try haul in a home win over Waikato in round three. With Banks and Clarke looking to challenge for spots in the Canes’ outside backs, expect fireworks next season.

“We’ve watched Tjay play really well in the NPC over the last couple of years, with a stellar performance for Wellington this year,” Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw explained. “He feels like a really good addition, he’s young, hungry and keen to get stuck in.

“He fits the model and style that we want to play from the back either at fullback or on the wing. Tjay’s got a good left boot on him and he’s exciting on attack.”

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J
JW 44 minutes ago
Why NZR's Ineos settlement may be the most important victory they'll enjoy this year

It really all depends of how much overseas players would be paid (by NZR) to play for the All Blacks. I’ve not heard a peep on this front from any author suggesting it’s a good idea.


If it’s nothing (a player gets his weekly paycheck from the club and thats it (which we know is definitely not the case in Ireland and France, or SA even I think?), then maybe it would retain more SR level players given that they’ll be getting the “AB” component (which is about where things stand, Burke for instance would have had to had his Sader contract upgraded to an AB one (think above Pero levels) to be on similar money.


I’d having to imagine if a player is getting paid to do nothing over the international windows though, they are going to want to get paid extra for appear for the ABs, so in this situation, it’s hard to see many players being retained, yes.


I’m pretty sure they flew to Japan and met in person.


I’ve heard/had these discussions numerous times. I don’t think theres anyway to judge the interest that would be retain in SR. For one, it might be a more entertaining league as a result, as the JRLO is compared to Europe, despite it obviously being a lesser standard.


If SRP is of a lesser standard and now able to use Japanese and American players to bolster teams, perhaps those markets more than make up for the downturn in NZ and Aus? Perhaps it gives NZR flexibility to create a more fit for purpose interdomestic competition, and interest actually increases? All you might need is a proper pathway from school to pro?


Razor asked NZR to keep an open mind. Did NZR answer any of these questions to themself?

23 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

Yeah of course it can be, it manages a good commerical outcome when 100 million people are following it. I’m saying rugby is no where near even remotely close to getting the payoff you’re talking about, never mind the distinct lack of anyway to implement it.


So you’re going for the dirty approach. I’m not surprised, it’s the only way to easily implement it right now. I wouldn’t see the benefit to doing that myself. A draft, if purely feasible in it’s own right, doesn’t need to provide commercial benefit at all (if it works, that’s all it needs to do, as it no doubt did back in america’s heyday). But without the advantageous backing of sponsors and interest levels, if you pick the wrong method to implement it, like a dirty approach, you do potential harm to it’s acceptance.


The aspect’s of the approach you chose that I don’t like, is that the franchises are the ones spending the money of the U20’s only for there opposition to get first dibs. Personally, I would much prefer an investment into a proper pathway (which I can’t really see SR U20s being at all in anycase). I’m not exactly sure how the draft works in america, but I’m pretty sure it’s something like ‘anyone whishing to be pro has to sign for the draft’, and results in maybe 10 or 20% of those being drafted. The rest (that accumulative 80/90% year on year) do go back into club, pronvincial, or whatever they have there, and remain scouted and options to bring in on immediate notice for cover etc. You yes, you draw on everybody, but what is generating your interest in the drafties in the first plaec?


This is your missing peace. If some come through school and into the acadamies, which would be most, you’ve currently got three years of not seeing those players after they leave school. Those that miss and come in through club, maybe the second year theyre in the draft or whatever, aged 20/21, you’re going to have no clue how they’ve been playing. NPC is a high level, so any that are good enough to play that would already be drafted, but some late bloomers you might see come in NPC but then Sky’s not going to broadcast that anymore. So what’s generating this massive interest you’re talking about, and most importantly, how does it tie in with the other 7 clubs that will be drafting (and providing) players outside of NZ?


Is the next step to pump tens of millions into SRP U20s? That would be a good start for investment in the youth (to get onto international levels of pathway development) in the first place but are fans going to be interested to the same level as what happens in america? Baseball, as mentioned, has the minor leagues, if we use that model it hasn’t to be broad over the whole pacific, because you’re not having one draft right, they all have to play against each other. So here they get drafted young and sent out into a lower level thats more expansive that SR, is there interest in that? There would be for large parts, but how financially viable would it be. Twiggy tried to get a league started and NPC clubs joined. BOP and Taranaki want SR representation, do we have a mix of the biggest clubs and provinces/states make a couple of divisions? I think that is far more likely to fan interest and commerical capabilities than an U20 of the SR teams. Or ofc Uni fits a lot of options. I’ve not really read anything that has tried to nut out the feasability of a draft, it can certainly work if this spitballing is anything to go by, but I think first theres got to be a need for it far above just being a drafting level.

36 Go to comments
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