Things around life’

long stint rooming with Dalton Papali’i on the northern tour aided in that process. ‘‘He helped me just block all that out, because he’s been through it . . . I’m at peace now with having to deal with that [social] media presence.’’

As you would expect, Clarke has a serious rugby year well thought out. For the first time in his young professional career he allowed himself an off-season to ‘‘relax and reset’’. That didn’t come naturally to a fellow who believes in the power of preparation, but it was team-mate Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (a regular training partner) who reminded him of the need to take a step away to take a step forward.

‘‘He was like ‘bro, stop texting me to go train’, take this time to have fun with your friends, with family, and next week we’ll start grinding it out. It helped me to look back on my why, and realise I’m playing rugby because I love playing with my friends, I love showing my faith and love playing for my family.’’

Like all the Blues, Clarke very much has the ‘‘one week at a time’’ blinkers on, but concedes he was ‘‘nervous’’ ahead of last week’s opener because of that ‘‘different’’ off-season. Needless to say he walked off Forsyth Barr Stadium, following a 60-20 victory, satisfied, and just a little in awe of a 202-metre running night from his mate on the other wing, Mark Telea.

He says the focus is now all on the Brumbies today in Melbourne, with the Blues well aware they remain a work in progress with their eyes very much on a distant prize.

‘‘With the All Blacks there is that sense we want to go and right some wrongs from last year, but right now in the Blues it feels like unfinished business in a sense. At the start we talked about how it really takes losing one [final] to win one. Knowing the pain and what it felt like to lose (to the Crusaders) has built that foundation for this year. That’s what I’m excited about.’’

New year. New perspective. New ambition. What’s not to be excited about?