Latest news with #CalebClarke
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Mass, reliability in semifinal match-ups
And then there were four. Some key match-ups could determine the Super Rugby Pacific semifinals this weekend, Hayden Meikle draws some names out of a hat. Caleb Clarke. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES 14. Chay Fihaki v 11. Caleb Clarke Hoskins Sotutu. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES One future All Black against one has-an-uncertain-future All Black? Possibly. Fihaki looks a fair bet to make his test debut this year after a brief spell as injury cover with the All Blacks last year. He is big enough and quick enough, but perhaps just needs to get involved more. Clarke finished 2024 as a firm first-choice on the left wing with the national team but has, like his team, been a little underwhelming in Super Rugby. A big performance in the semifinal is needed. 8. Christian Lio-Willie v 8. Hoskins Sotutu Is there a better sight than two hard-charging No 8s throwing themselves at each other like angry bulls? Stand clear, everyone. Lio-Willie — how the Highlanders would love him back — has taken another step up this year and forms a cracking Crusaders loose forward trio with Tom Christie and Ethan Blackadder. Sotutu was the main man for the rampant Blues last year and has started to get back to some real form. Damian McKenzie. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES 10. Damian McKenzie v 10. Noah Lolesio Any talk of key match-ups involving the Chiefs must always start with Mighty Mac. He plays well, the Chiefs win. Simple as that. Lolesio is an interesting character who can be as good as anyone on his day. He will want to shine at the crunch end, with an eye on playing for the Wallabies against the Lions. 6. Samipeni Finau v 6. Rob Valetini Crunch. Finau hits hard, and leaves his mark. Can he be the answer for the All Blacks at No6 or does he not quite have the all-round game? Valetini is simply magnificent, and if there is to be an Australian team in the final, he might need to produce a barnstormer.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke re-signs to right wrongs on and off field
Caleb Clarke. Photo: Photosport All Blacks and Blues winger Caleb Clarke says the decision to stay in New Zealand gives him the chance to "right a few wrongs". The 26-year-old has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby for two more years taking him through to the 2027 World Cup. In February Clarke pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to stop for police while riding his motorbike in Auckland late last year. At the time he said "I made an error of judgement while riding my motorbike in Auckland. I've taken full responsibility for my actions and have entered a guilty plea...I'm extremely apologetic and embarrassed." In re-signing Clarke said he was "very grateful to New Zealand Rugby and the Blues". Clarke has played 74 Super Rugby games for the franchise and said "Auckland's my home.. and (I) want to get close that hundred figure.. it was a no brainer." "Especially this year things haven't gone right," and he appreciated the "the opportunity to right some wrongs." Clarke said he felt he could be better on the field too. "Even on the field I don't feel like I have been delivering the best performances for myself and the team so the opportunity to stick around and right those wrongs I am excited about. "I compare my game to last year and last year I was touching the ball 15 or 16 times (a game) and this year its five or six so just trying to get around the ball more and be more of an option." Clarke had limited game time at the 2023 World Cup where the All Blacks fell at the last hurdle losing the final to South Africa. Clarke didn't play in that match but still remembers the words of then captain Sam Whitelock post the game, "'It's one thing to be part of an All Black team but to be part of a World Cup winning side is special'...so that's the dream and that's the goal." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby Pacific: Drua excuses and lessons
Blues Caleb Clarke scores a try during the Super Rugby Pacific Quarter Final - Blues v Fijian Drua at Eden Park. Photo: Photosport Opinion - Excuses, one after another, have come out of the Fijian Drua camp in the last three weeks. Head coach Glen Jackson has used almost all the excuses in the book to justify why the team has not performed as expected in the 2025 edition of the Super Rugby Pacific competition. Friday night's 34-5 drubbing at the hands of the defending champions, the Blues, in Suva buried the team's hopes of any comeback and a fight to get into the top six. That result means the end of the road for the side, which had shown so much promise in the last two seasons by reaching the quartersfinals. And as the results got analysed, dissected and pondered upon by Fijian fans and critics, there was one common statement: the side has failed the fans badly. Here are some key takeaways from the game: It was too plain to see: the Drua were just not up to the standard needed to beat the Blues. They struggled throughout the game. Luckily, they scored a try to break the egg. Fans showed their disappointment, with only half of the HFC Bank National Stadium's seats filled. A far cry from last year when there were hardly seats to get to. The Blues were just too experienced, too clinical, too strong, and their experience paid off. It is something the Drua will have to seriously look at going forward. They definitely need some more experienced hands on deck. It is great news to see that they have secured Temo Mayanavanua from England, who will return home to join them in 2026. Former The Fiji Times sports journalist Anendra Singh shared his thoughts after the clash. He said post-match scrums almost always reveal the naked truths of a game better than what fans see unfolding on a park. "To use an analogy, it's like digging into a succulent slice of pork but realising it would take the culinary experience to another level if there were a portion or two of crackling to go with it. "In that vein, rookie head coach Glen Jackson had served a couple of cracklings, after the main course when the Blues had shut out the Fijian Drua 34-5 in Suva in round 13 of the Super Rugby Pacific (SRP) clash in Suva on Friday, May 09, 2025. Facing the media scrum, Jackson had revealed he believed the Drua would need a year or two, "with the right people in the building", to become a "quality team". "Whether he intended to be so forthright or not, it's shifted the goal posts big time from why the Drua Tagane are now likely to be rooted on the last rung of the SRP ladder this season. Mainstream media are projecting his revelation as an apology and not making any excuses. "Well, they remain excuses but just not lame ones, such as "young villagers" or playing the blame game of poor refereeing. Fans will receive this sobering admission as accountability and transparency in an SRP season where the honeymoon of an easier qualifying pathway had come to an abrupt end. From Jackson's statement emerges two strips of pork cracklings: 1/. When did Jackson come to the realisation that Drua wasn't going to be a quality team? 2/. Who are the right people and what building is he referring to? "Admitting that the Blues had outplayed Drua Tagane in all facets of the game will give the discerning fans a degree of closure from other such mismatches. Acknowledging that the Blues had bigger and stronger presence on the park will also exorcise some demons. "Having been involved with the franchise since it's relatively recent inception, Jackson would have known what stocks lay in the Fijian talent pool when he had selected this season's squad. It's difficult to believe that Fiji has no big rigs, even if some of them are plying their trade overseas. "That also means the lack of quality in the current squad will demand some pedigree players be recruited and, by default, the dead wood will be identified. Jackson did acknowledge Drua had two incentives - a Fijian player losing his life in France and Drua players' tinana (Mother's Day) - to put in a mongrel performance. "Which takes us deeper into the right people in presumably the franchise building. If Blues are stronger, does that mean the strength and conditioning staffers aren't doing their job and/or players aren't showing commitment? "Where do attacking coach Tim Sampson and his defence counterpart, Greg Fleming, sit in the right or wrong part of the building? Some of the shortcomings in set-piece plays were evident dating back to last season, bar scrums, not to mention a brittle defence. "Some fans can even be excused for asking if Jackson, a rookie on a learning curve, and Evans are going to fall on their swords at the end of this season on account of the latter seeing little merit in advertising the former's position after last season. They must wonder what Evans thinks now." Mistakes after mistakes worked against the side and they could not recover. Once the Blues were in control, they just kept banging away. In the end, the mistakes piled up and the scoreline kept ticking away. One of the biggest questions being asked now is whether the Drua have lost their bearings on what they are suppoed to be doing. There seemed to be no punch in their attacks against the Blues. There was no real forward movement. Just a week earlier, they had shown a lot of promise against the Reds. However, that disappeared on Friday night. There needs to be some serious soul-searching by the management and players also. What has gone wrong? The Drua season is over. Their next two games are just going to be formalities. 2026 does not look any better as they are due to lose some players. Jackson said he is focused on the future, but fans are not convinced and are slowly losing their faith in the team. There needs to be some changes made. And fast!
1News
26-04-2025
- Sport
- 1News
Super Rugby Pacific: Blues bomb out against the Reds
The Blues have slumped to a 35-21 loss to the Reds in Brisbane, meaning that they are now in serious danger of missing the Super Rugby Pacific play-offs. While they were missing Dalton Papli'i and Caleb Clarke, plus had Beauden Barrett sidelined with illness, the Blues can only blame themselves for yet another disappointing performance. Handling errors were rife, the set piece was unreliable and poor defence in the early stages allowed the Reds to shoot out to a 14-0 lead courtesy of two tries to Tom Lynagh. Kurt Eklund looked to have pulled back a try for the Blues, but was denied by the TMO meaning the Blues were unrewarded for a sustained period of attack in the Reds' 22. However, the killer blow came after only half an hour when Mark Tele'a needlessly spear tackled his opposite winger Tim Ryan, which resulted in an unsurprising upgraded red card. Tate McDermott, Lachie Anderson and Richie Asiata scored for the home side in the second half to push the game well out of reach, before Sam Nock and Anton Segner scored to add a little bit of respectability to the scoreline for the Blues. The Blues now have to win their four remaining games - Force (home), Drua (away), Moana (away) and Waratahs (home) - to make the play-offs and defend the title they so convincingly won last season. It's highly likely they'll have to do at least a few of those games without Tele'a, who almost certainly will be facing a suspension.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
New Zealand rugby player Caleb Clarke charged with dangerous driving, eluding police
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke said he was 'apologetic and extremely embarrassed' after being charged with dangerous driving and failing to stop for police. Clarke's case was called in the Auckland District Court on Monday but he was excused from appearing. He will be sentenced in June. His lawyer Rowan Butler asked community magistrate Kaye Davies that a plea not be entered to allow Clarke to seek discharge without conviction. In a statement issued on his behalf by his Auckland-based Super Rugby club, the Blues, Clarke said: "Last year I made an error of judgement while riding my motorbike in Auckland. I'm extremely apologetic and embarrassed." The Blues later clarified that Clarke had not pleaded guilty to the charges. 'He will now go through both that court process and, once it is complete, an internal employment procedure," the club statement said. Clarke has played 29 tests for New Zealand since 2020. ___ AP rugby:
