Clarke commits to Olympic bid
All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke will be going for gold in Tokyo after committing to New Zealand’s Olympic sevens squad.
Along with hot-stepping Chiefs star Etene Nanai-Seturo, Clarke will bolster New Zealand’s men’s team, the All Blacks sevens, Stuff understands.
The Highlanders’ Vilimoni Koroi will join Clarke and Nanai-Seturo as Super Rugby players in the team, who will be unveiled at the sevens’ Mount Maunganui base on Monday, although Koroi has been with the sevens programme since the start of the season.
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland this week revealed his winger, Salesi Rayasi, was sticking with 15s for Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
Any Super Rugby players considered have been with the sevens programme before, but Clarke’s return is the most compelling.
The 22-year-old was a revelation for the Blues and the All Blacks once rugby resumed after its hiatus last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He played five tests after his All Blacks debut in October and was electric.
Before Covid-19, though, the Auckland prodigy was a key member of the Kiwi team on the World Sevens Series. He made his international sevens debut in Sydney in January 2018.
Clarke played in their last international sevens event in Vancouver last March, which they won before the pandemic shredded the sporting calendar.
Despite Clarke’s underwhelming form for the Blues in their uninspiring Aotearoa campaign this year, his inclusion is a major boost for men’s sevens coach Clark Laidlaw.
Seeking their first Olympic medal after a disappointing fifthplaced finish at the 2016 Rio Games, the Kiwi men return to international sevens for the first time in 14 months against Australia in an Olympic warm-up tournament in Auckland on May 21-23.
Laidlaw picked an 18-year-old Clarke for New Zealand’s successful Commonwealth Games campaign on the Gold Coast in 2018, although emergency appendix surgery ruled him out before the tournament.
Clarke, injuries and Covid-19 permitting, will be chasing gold in Tokyo. He returns for New Zealand’s international comeback to sevens after the teams have been limited to inter-squad and domestic contests for months.
Eye-catching performances in last year’s Bledisloe Cup tests alerted everyone to his raw talent.
The son of former All Black Eroni Clarke, his phenomenal pace and power shattered defensive lines.
Clarke’s commitment to sevens means he will be unavailable for the Blues for Super Rugby TransTasman, which starts next Friday, and for the start of the All Blacks’ test campaign in July.
He is expected to return after Tokyo and be available for the All Blacks but could opt for a rest to manage his workload.
For the Olympics, Clarke and Nanai-Seturo have less than 11 weeks to get reacquainted with sevens and adapt to a more frenetic and faster game which is more physically demanding.
The heat in Tokyo will be a factor because the sevens starts on July 26 in the middle of Japan’s summer.
The Kiwi men’s and women’s teams are heading to Japan earlier to acclimatise to the intense humidity.
Eye-catching performances in last year’s Bledisloe Cup tests alerted everyone to his raw talent.