Caleb Clarke made his debut in a drawn Bledisloe Cup match against Australia over four years ago and has played 25 times but never once against Ireland. A first visit to this country has particular relevance for the 25-year-old from Auckland for he can trace his roots to Ireland.
“I was speaking to my family before we left for the northern tour and my dad and my grandad reminded me that I’ve Irish roots in me and that’s where the Clarkes came from before coming to Samoa.
“So yeah, it’s really exciting. It’s my first time here in Ireland as well. I know how much of a strength they are. So far it’s been James Lowe and Mack Hansen, and they’ve been two strong wingers as well. I remember I used to watch ‘Lowey’ back in the day when he was playing for the Chiefs. I call him by his nickname but I don’t know him that well but still, he’s pretty cool and it’s really exciting.”
A pleasant lad, Clarke smiles when admitting sheepishly he’s not entirely sure of those roots.
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“Northern Ireland is what I heard. Up north. Before they came to Samoa as potato farmers, that’s about all I’ve got so far. It’s probably why I like Guinness. I’m not a drinker, but when I tried it I was like ‘Wow, that was so nice’.
“That’s all I’ve heard, they came in the early 20s or the 40s to Samoa and started potato farming and from there the Clarkes sort of grew.”
Clarke was not picked in the All Blacks squad for their end-of-year tour to the northern hemisphere, when they last visited Ireland, and he was still out of favour during Ireland’s three-Test series in New Zealand.
He returned for the ensuing Rugby Championship and has been a regular on the left wing ever since, albeit he only started the pool wins over Namibia and Uruguay in the World Cup.
But all has changed since then. The Blues winger was third highest try scorer in Super Rugby with 10, and despite starting four of six games in the 2024 Rugby Championship he was the tournament’s leading try scorer with six. An explosive carrier, who can bounce tackles for fun, Clarke is also nimble on his feet, and he attributes his upturn in form and fortunes to the hard work he put in during the post-World Cup off-season.
“I remember coming off the plane after the 2023 World Cup and going straight into training. I felt I’d a lot more to give and had a lot more in me that no one had seen yet.
“I lost a bit of weight, on top of that spending a bit of time with league, learning from those boys, coming into the Blues season and learning a lot off Vernon Cotter who got a lot out of me, to be fair. That’s where I grew and now Razor [Scott Robertson] and the coaches have really let me play my game, encouraged me and that’s the best part about being in this environment.
“I sometimes overthink, but they simplify it for me and say go and play.”
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