Wing and a prayer in the name of the father
Watching in the stands at Eden Park, Eroni Clarke felt pure joy at his son’s success. Marc reports.
As the proud dad nestled into his seat at Eden Park last Sunday afternoon, a reassuring calm descended upon him. For all the edginess and pressure of the occasion – his son’s All Blacks starting debut in the famous No 11 jersey on his beloved home ground – Eroni Clarke couldn’t shake a single comforting thought: ‘‘The kid’s got this’’.
That he did. It’s part of the rich tapestry of New Zealand rugby test history now that Caleb Clarke, son of the Auckland, Blues and All Blacks midfielder Eroni (now Pasifika Engagement Manager with NZ Rugby, as well as featuring in TV3’s rugby reality show Match Fit), produced one of the great starting debuts of all time.
He powered past, between and sometimes straight over Wallabies with incredible frequency, lighting up a splendid occasion with a personal tour de force. He ran for around 130 metres and left 14 defenders trailing in his wake in a bulldozing display that drew comparisons with the late, great Jonah Lomu.
For Eroni in the stands it was a magical time at a ground he once graced with similar splendour. As his son rampaged around the garden of Eden, the cameras revelled in his various states of excitement and celebration. Caleb would remark later, ‘‘every time I looked up Dad seemed to be on the big screen enjoying himself’’.
Why not? Eroni and his wife Siala have never taken the responsibilities of parenthood lightly, and that didn’t stop when their third born had reached 21 and become a first-time All
Black. ‘‘ It brought back a lot of memories for me, living my dream of playing for the All Blacks,’’ reveals Eroni in a long chat with the Sunday Star-Times.
‘‘ It’s been a dream of his too for a long time, since he picked up the rugby ball and started running with it — as a father seeing it come to the point where he was pulling on the black jersey, singing the national anthem and out there expressing this gift he’s been blessed with, it was special, not just for me, but my wife, his siblings and his grandparents who have been part of my journey as well. It was really the coming together of two worlds.’’
Eroni has done plenty of thinking over the last few weeks, with first Caleb’s tantalising test debut off the bench in Wellington the week previous, then that dynamic, destructive start on the ground where his father performed so many of his brilliant deeds.
His mind couldn’t help wander back to a pivotal point 15 years ago when a then mid-30s ex-All Black clinging to his sporting dream rang his wife to tearfully inform her he was giving up rugby to devote his full attention to his children.
The result of that selfless decision positively lit up Eden Park last Sunday and had Eroni
pondering the wisdom of choices made from the heart.
‘‘ I can still recall it,’’ he reflects. ‘‘I had trained well over summer and anything was possible. I had this desire to still play at the highest level, and a dream of winning a World Cup for the All Blacks. I was on a camp and some conversations the parents were having were quite alarming for me.
‘‘All of a sudden I realised if I only had five or six years left with my children before they become more independent, I’ve got to make these the best years.
‘‘I realised in that moment I had a decision to make, and I chose my children. My desire to play rugby just ended and my desire to be a cheerleader for my kids on the sidelines, taking them to their trainings, to evening recitals, to extra- curricular activities was so much more important to me.
‘‘As I rang my wife, I burst into tears as I told her. I realised in that moment that rugby had been such a big part of my life, and now I was finally ready to hang up my boots – for a much greater purpose.’’
The father knew exactly what the son was going through as he prepared for the biggest moment of his life. It’s why, as Caleb spent much of Bledisloe II week flitting between home and the All Blacks’ Viaduct hotel, Eroni decided on a less- is- best approach to emotional support. ‘‘Since he was a kid it was always that aspect of the father helping a son, and as he’s gone to different levels picking up on things that help him stay relaxed, getting a gauge where his mind is, and a sense of whether he’s switched on, or concerned about anything. Over the years I’ve done a lot less of that because I can see Caleb is finding his own ways to prepare, and he does it really well.’’
Caleb is the middle of five children of Eroni and Siala. He has an elder sister (Shekynah, 25) and brother (Eroni Jr, 22), and brothers aged 11 and 9. Athletics (he would emerge as a successful sprinter through the age grades) and rugby were his sporting loves, and it was perhaps a decade ago when Eroni truly realised he had something a bit special on his hands.
‘‘When he was 10 we put him through an athletics programme, and it was amazing how quickly his speed and power combined with technique. He had a trainer who really pushed him. Before he’d win his events by a couple of metres, now he was winning by 10-15 metres. I’d never seen any 10-year-old work as hard as his trainer worked him, but it taught him some wonderful values around the discipline and commitment required.’’
Caleb started rugby around 7 (soon after his father’s retirement), and on the back of his athletics’ breakthroughs and physical maturity began making some big strides. By his teens ‘‘ we really started to see the emergence of the Caleb we see today, beating people with speed, power and athleticism’’.
The youngster attended Mount Albert Grammar, where the late Geoff Moon soon tabbed him for the fast track.
‘‘He was 15, and he was just going to play under-15s that season. He talked about playing league as well, which was what we did as kids,’’ adds Eroni.
‘‘But Geoff invited him to play in the final first XV pre-season game. There was one spot left, and it was enough for Geoff to see he was going to be the last member of the first XV. I worried how this 15-year-old would stand up to the physicality of 18-year-olds. He was fine.’’
At Eden Park last Sunday the father veers between edginess ... ‘‘ If Caleb is nervous, I’m hoping maybe I could carry those nerves for him’’ . . . and tranquillity. ‘‘I had a real sense of peace – that he had prepared himself really well. I’ve talked a lot with Caleb about his faith. It’s a huge part of our lives and gives him an important perspective. I’ve told him he’s been blessed with a gift by God and the way you play is an expression of your worship to Him. So play with all your heart, and give it your best.’’
As the game unfolds, the father’s emotion spills over. ‘‘It’s a pure joy just to see your children expressing the gift they’ve been blessed with,’’ he says. ‘‘You
‘‘It was special, not just for me, but my wife, his siblings and his grandparents who have been part of my journey as well. It was really the coming together of two worlds.’’ Eroni Clarke
could see his ability to beat people, his strength, his power and his speed — I’ve asked him to do his best, and he’s doing that with all his heart.’’
Just five minutes into the second half, a signature moment occurs. Caleb receives a kick in his own half and sets off — 20 metres, 30, 40, then past 50. Wallabies trail in his wake as he swerves and smashes bodies away. He goes to the ground, but then – almost magically – gets back up and continues another 15. Eventually, Ardie Savea scores from the next phase and 47,000 people are gasping in awe at what they’d just witnessed.
‘‘You put them through training, through athletics, through school, and to see it come to a pinnacle on the field for the All Blacks ... as a parent you want that gift, that talent and that drive to keep going, and for him to honour the jersey.
‘‘There have been so many great men who have worn that No 11 jersey ... Sir Bryan Williams, Inga Tuigamala, Terry Wright, to the great man, Jonah Lomu ... Caleb understands, as every All Black understands, when you wear that jersey you honour that legacy as well.’’
Legacy is an aspect the young man has long ago dealt with. He was too young to remember his father in his heyday – he was 3 or
4 when Eroni left for Japan to start his final playing chapter – and it was a few years later, in primary school back in New Zealand, when a friend pointed out his dad in a rugby encyclopaedia that he began to realise what he had achieved.
‘‘He was around a lot of his rugby ‘uncles’, men like Jonah, Sir Michael Jones, Ofisa Tonu’u, Charles Riechelmann ... it wasn’t till years later when he started watching old videos of dad he realised, ‘ wow, those are the men I grew up around’, the men my brother and sister called uncles.
‘‘The wonderful thing about rugby is it creates a family environment — and as a young Pasifika man growing up, he was able to be himself because the environment allowed him to be that.’’
It wasn’t always smooth sailing. His high school years, when he was part of a special MAGS first XV, brought an identity crisis that required a paternal intervention.
‘‘All of a sudden there was this label, that he was Eroni’s boy, this expectation on him to be an All Black. It bothered him. I told him I had no expectation on him to become an All Black. My only expectation, I said, is when you’re out there you don’t give anything less than your best. Once he
understood that, it freed him to create his own pathway without any feeling of pressure.
‘‘The other thing I told him is there is always going to be expectation. It will come from the other people, but to know Mum and I have no expectation in terms of living our dreams through you. That was a pivotal moment.’’
Earlier this year Caleb was playing for the Blues on the day he was due to face the Highlanders, his maternal grandfather – a man he was extremely close to – died.
‘‘I wasn’t even sure Caleb and [All Blacks prop] Alex Hodgman [who is married to Caleb’s first cousin] were going to be able to play,’’ recalls Eroni.
‘‘I commend them for their strength, and that they both wanted to honour their grandfather in that way. I was very proud of them both.’’
If there’s an aspect to Caleb Clarke that stands out, beyond his natural athletic gifts, it’s the smile and natural joie de vivre he embodies. He is mature. Yet he’s also somewhat of a big, innocent kid, just lapping up this life he’s living. The All Blacks, to a man, not only noticed it, but embraced it.
Every day won’t be like last Sunday. But Eroni has a strong feeling that this young man, his young man, has truly got this.