Super duo switch to sevens
All Blacks wing Caleb Clarke is the major addition of the trio of Super Rugby players committing their immediate future to going for gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
The All Blacks sevens yesterday confirmed Clarke, Etene Nanai-Seturo (Chiefs) and Vilimoni Koroi (Highlanders) were with the squad at their Mount Maunganui base.
Koroi has been with the sevens programme since the start of the season, but Clarke and Nanai Seturo are switching from 15s after Super Rugby Aotearoa (SRA) ended with the Crusaders’ 24-13 win over the Chiefs in Saturday’s final in Christchurch.
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland last week revealed his wing, Salesi Rayasi, turned down a return to sevens to stay with 15s for Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (SRTT), which starts on Friday.
New Zealand men’s sevens coach Clark Laidlaw can pick one player from each Super Rugby franchise. No Crusaders were selected. Any Super Rugby players considered have been with the sevens programme before, as have Clarke, Koroi and Nanai-Seturo, who were playing sevens in black until the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the World Series last year.
The Kiwi men’s and women’s teams are returning to the international sevens stage for the first time in more than year against Australia in an Olympic warm-up event on May 21-23 in Auckland.
It will also be the first sevens tournament for Clarke and Nanai Seturo after playing in SRA.
‘‘They’ve been a big part of our team over the past two or three years, so it feels quite natural them coming back into our environment,’’ Laidlaw said.
‘‘The communication and connection has stayed strong in this period so now its about realigning them with how we are doing things and get them back up to speed with our game.
Neither will be available for their franchise for SRTT and Clarke won’t be considered by the All Blacks until August.
The All Blacks’ test campaign starts in July, with a schedule yet to be confirmed but likely to feature matches against Fiji and Samoa, and the Olympic sevens tournaments start on July 26.
Clarke would have to spend two weeks in quarantine on return from Japan, ruling him out of the opening Bledisloe Cup tests against Australia in August.
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 Toyko will be a factor. The Olympics are in the middle of Japan’s summer, although whether the Games go ahead is still in doubt because of Covid-19.