Latest news with #Clarkson
The 42
3 hours ago
- Sport
- The 42
Clarkson's 3am text, Italian ancestry, and his Lions debut
AS HE STOOD in Marvel Stadium and chatted about his Lions debut, Thomas Clarkson was clutching the cap he had just been awarded as if he never wanted to let it go. Having come off the bench in the second half of the Lions' win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV, Clarkson became Lions player number 886, with chairman Ieuan Evans presenting caps to him and the other debutants in the dressing room afterwards. 'I didn't even know they did caps if you don't play in the Test,' said Clarkson. He hadn't thought about the Lions much until he got a text from Andy Farrell at 3am when he was on a night out with his Ireland team-mates following their win over Portugal two weekends ago. Clarkson immediately made his exit from the bar. 'Some text to get,' he said. 'It was like, 'Ring me when you're awake', so I said 'Oh yeah, grand.' 'Then Paulie [O'Connell] rang me and was like, 'Ring him right now!' So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside. 'I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it.' The Lions hadn't had an injury at tighthead prop, so Clarkson wasn't expecting a shout from Farrell. He jokes that he 'might have got the finger out' if there had been an obvious injury to one of the Lions players. Clarkson with his father, Finbarr, in Melbourne. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO The reality was that Farrell wanted additional cover at tighthead for training and for the First Nations & Pasifika game. Clarkson was the next best available prop in the Lions boss's eyes. 'Tom Clarkson was 100% the next cab on the rank,' said Farrell last night. Advertisement 'If anyone's seen how he's performed over the last six months, they'll see why.' Six months ago, Clarkson certainly wasn't aiming for a Lions call-up. 'Not a hope,' said the Leinster man. 'I only went in as a training panellist [with Ireland] in November, so I wasn't even really expecting to play in that. So to get a cap, I was delighted. 'The Six Nations, I was happy enough with how it went, I wouldn't have said I set the world alight or anything. So to then play well for Leinster at the end of the season and come in here, it's pretty mad.' Despite his excellent form, there was a backlash to Clarkson's call from the Lions. It was a little unfair to him that he was announced as a call-up on his own, whereas a group of three Scots were confirmed the following day. There probably wouldn't have been as much fuss if they'd all been announced together. The Dublin native steered clear of the bile online. 'I tried to stay away from it, to be honest,' said Clarkson. 'I feel like the last few weeks in Leinster, before the semi-final, was fairly negative. So I think just kind of trying to use that as a bit of motivation. I knew, just because Jamie [Osborne] got called in right before me, there was a bit of backlash to that. 'So, I knew it was going to be even more when I got the nod.' Sadly, this is something Clarkson has had to learn to do in recent years. Clarkson with fellow Lions debutant Jamie Osborne. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO Social media is not a nice place for players. 'It was a bit of a shock at the start, to be honest,' said Clarkson. 'Obviously, like, you grow up using social media. So it was hard to step away from it. But I just had to get rid of a lot of that. I just use Instagram now.' Whatever about the naysayers, Clarkson has loved being with the Lions since last week. His father, Finbarr, just about made it to Melbourne in time for the game, having 'legged it down' to Australia knowing that it was likely his son would feature in last night's game. Clarkson was rooming by himself for the first week in Brisbane but has been sharing with the unfortunate Darcy Graham, another late call-up, in recent days. Most of his time has been spent catching up on everything the Lions have been doing, a process smoothed by his familiarity with how Farrell likes the game played. He hasn't seen much of Australia outside of training venues and coffee shops, but he is loving every minute of the experience. It has been a whirlwind last year for the Leinster tighthead, who is happy now that he didn't take up an offer from Italian rugby to follow up on his ancestry. His mother's maiden name is Nina Cafolla. Her parents emigrated from the village of Casalattico, in between Naples and Rome, so Thomas could have switched allegiance. In fact, Thomas's real name is Tomasso. 'They came looking for me, but I'd just signed a new contract with Leinster,' said Clarkson. 'That was at the start of last season. It had gone quite well, so I kind of pushed it off. I didn't end it. I thought it could be open at some point down the line. 'Obviously, this year has gone very well.'
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'It was a bit of a shock': Thomas Clarkson blocks out social backlash after Lions come calling
It is an indictment of social media and society in general that Thomas Clarkson's first act as a British & Irish Lion was to disconnect from it. For many of those who can remember the pre-internet age, the idea of withdrawing from the online world would be some kind of nirvana but if you are 24-years-old and that is the only life you have known then it is a different decision to have to make. Such is the life of a professional athlete, whose career-transforming moment at being called up to the Lions tour in Australia was accompanied by the trolling of disgruntled online users upset by the selection ahead of whoever they believed was more suited for the role. On Tuesday at Marvel Stadium, as Clarkson replaced fellow Irishman Finlay Bealham on 50 minutes to become British & Irish Lion number 886, the tighthead prop justified his selection as a squad member head coach Andy Farrell insisted was '100% the next cab on the rank' to join an elite band of 2025 tourists. Read More Donal Lenihan: Schmidt and Wallabies have enough to cling onto to ensure Melbourne storm 'If anyone's seen how he's performed over the last six months, they'll see why,' the Lions boss said of Clarkson. Eight Ireland caps, four of them in this season's Six Nations, including a start against Wales in a Triple Crown-sealing victory is why, with Clarkson having further enhanced his reputation, on home soil at least, with ownership of Leinster's number three jersey in all three of his province's URC knockout games in their run to the title. The evidence was not enough to stop the online naysayers, although Clarkson did not allow himself to be sucked in. 'I tried to stay away from it, to be honest,' he said. 'I feel like the last few weeks in Leinster, before the semi-final, was fairly negative. I think just kind of trying to use that as a bit of motivation. I knew, just because Jamie (Osborne) got called in right before me, there was a bit of backlash to that. 'I knew it was going to be even more when I got the nod. So yeah, I just tried to stay away from it. 'Yeah, it was a bit of a shock at the start, to be honest. Obviously, like, you grow up using social media. So it was hard to step away from it. But I just had to get rid of a lot of that. I just use Instagram now.' The Lions' Thomas Clarkson celebrates with his father Finbarr after the game against the First Nations & Pasifika XV. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan Six months ago, Clarkson had been an uncapped Ireland training panelist, invited into camp by Farrell ahead of an Autumn Nations Series last November that saw him earn his Test debut off the bench at Aviva Stadium against Argentina. The British & Irish Lions were not remotely on his radar. 'Not a hope. I only went in as a training panelist in November. I wasn't even really expecting to play in that. So to get a cap I was delighted. 'The Six Nations, I was happy enough with how it went, I wouldn't have said I set the world alight or anything. To then play well for Leinster at the end of the season and come in here, it's pretty mad. 'Crazy. Pretty unbelievable stuff. But I'm happy. Probably, I benefited from Tadhg (Furlong) being injured at the end of the season, definitely benefited from that. 'But I'd like to think I took the opportunity.' With Furlong and Bealham away on tour with the Lions, Clarkson believed his big opportunity was coming in Ireland's summer matches in Georgia and Portugal, both of which he started, scoring his maiden Test try in the 106-7 rout of the Portuguese on July 12. Then came the text from Farrell and a nudge from interim head coach Paul O'Connell. 'I found out three o'clock in the morning after the Portugal game. We were on a night out, I had to go home straight away. But yeah, some text to get. 'It was like: 'ring me when you're awake', so I said 'oh yeah, grand'. Then Paulie rang me and was like, 'ring him right now'. So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside. 'I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it.' Eleven days later and Clarkson is a Lion, coming on against the First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne and just about coming out on the right side of a 24-19 victory in the final midweek game of the tour. 'It was good,' he said, 'I felt like I was chasing my tail a little bit. But happy enough with the scrum and I made a few tackles. It was a good start. 'It's a fairly similar system to Leinster in Ireland, so it was just getting a handle on what the actual names were. But in terms of what I'm doing, I'm pretty used to it. 'I felt bad for the Scottish fellas coming in. They only got in on Sunday night, thrown in, having never played that way before. I was in a better place than them.' Likely to be one and done with the Lions with only the second and third Tests against Australia to come on tour, Clarkson could well find himself on a plane home before the week is out alongside the Scottish quartet Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Gregor Brown and Darcy Graham, their roles fulfilled after taking the pressure off the likely Test starters. His long season at an end and he is honest enough to be not thinking about the next campaign just yet. 'To be honest, I'm kind of excited for the break more than... Once the break's done, then I'll start thinking about cracking on. Obviously, Tadhg and Finlay are about here, so I'm not going to be guaranteed you go back and play, even with Ireland. 'Just looking forward to the challenge of cracking into it.' He has allowed himself to think about a return to Australia, however, with Ireland set to return for the 2027 World Cup here. 'Definitely. I'll go back, try and break into Ireland properly, consistently in the 23 and go from there. But like I said, it's going to be a massive challenge. I'm not just going to walk back in. 'It's going to be the two lads who are there. I need to get in the mix with them.'
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'This year it's gone very well'- Italian call a distant memory for new Lion Thomas Clarkson
As Thomas Clarkson stood in Melbourne's Marvel Stadium, clutching his newly minted British and Irish Lions cap, he reflected on a sliding doors moment from two years earlier. Fun fact: The 25-year-old's full name is actually Tommaso Clarkson, with his mother Nina Cafolla coming from a small town between Rome and Naples. At the start of the 2023/24 season, the Italians came calling. Clarkson turned down the offer, but with the tighthead prop yet to get his full break at Leinster, his qualification to play for Italy was kept in his back pocket, just in case. "They came looking for me, but I'd just signed a new contract with Leinster," he said, after making his Lions debut against the First Nations and Pasifika XV on Tuesday night. "I didn't end it. I thought it could be open at some point down the line, but obviously, this year it's gone very well." It's been a fast 12 months for Clarkson. A run of games to start the season, and injuries elsewhere, saw him brought into the Ireland squad for the first time in November as a training panellist, before he was retained after the training camp and impressed in two appearances off the bench against Argentina and Fiji. More big appearances came in the Champions Cup, and four more Irish caps followed in the Six Nations, before he produced arguably his best Leinster performance in their URC final win against the Bulls, a game he says was the moment where he believes he arrived. "It all kind of just clicked [that day] and then kept that momentum going," he said. "That was the first game when I was like, 'that was a proper performance'." He thought he finished the season with two more Irish caps against Georgia and Portugal, scoring a try in the second of those wins, and it was while celebrating that win with a few beers in the early hours of the morning in Lisbon that he received an urgent message from Andy Farrell. "It was like: 'ring me when you're awake', so I said 'oh yeah, grand'. Then Paulie [Paul O'Connell] rang me and was like, 'ring him right now!' "So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside. "I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it." His dream Lions call-up wasn't met with universal warmth outside of Ireland, mainly due to the him being the 18th Ireland international drafted in by Farrell on this tour, and the third tighthead prop. Farrell made a point of namechecking Clarkson (above) after last night's game, insisting he was very much the "next cab on the rank" when he was called into the group, and the player says that message has been drilled into him by the coaching staff. "It wasn't a kind of 'nepo' selection if you'd call it that," Clarkson added. "It was just nice to hear going into it. We were bouncing into the game. "I benefited from Tadhg [Furlong] being injured at the end of the season, definitely benefited from that. "But I'd like to think I took the opportunity. "I've been kind of understudied to Tadhg for a good few years now. He's consistently been probably the best tighthead in the world over the last few years. "It's been unbelievable being there, just around him. "Rabah's [Rabah Slimani] come in, probably offered something a bit different, where he's 100% scrum. "Tadhg obviously has an array of different stuff that he brings to it. Whereas Rabah, when you're scrumming against him in training, it's all or nothing against him." While the breaks have fallen his way this season, he served a long apprenticeship at the province, in large part down to playing behind Furlong, as well as Michael Ala'alatoa in previous years. Remarkably, he was lining out for Blackrock College in Division 1B of the Energia All-Ireland League as recently as January 2024. Asked if he though playing for the Lions was on the cards even six months ago, he admitted "not a hope!". "I made my Leinster debut five years ago now, so I've been waiting a long time," he said. "The fact that when it has come, it's all come at once is a bit crazy. Because I went through a good few years of not getting a sniff in at all really. So yeah, it's mad. "I put a lot of work into getting it, so any time I did get a shot, there was a whole lot of work behind it. So it felt like it just kind of rolled into another. "Once I got a foot in the door, I think I was trying to open it fully." Barring a couple of injuries, it's likely Clarkson has now finally finished his gruelling, 27-game season, and will head home with something to remember it by. "It's crazy, 886," he says, repeating the number stitched into his red and gold Lions cap after Tuesday's win. "I didn't even know they did caps if you don't play in the Test. It's some energy."
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Manhunt launched across Perth for 53-year-old allegedly armed with gun
Police have launched a manhunt across metropolitan Perth in search of a 53-year-old man believed to be armed with a firearm who they say poses a potential risk to the public. Perth residents have been warned not to approach Jason James Cockie, who police described as 175 centimetres tall, of solid build and with greying brown hair. Detective Senior Constable Damian Webb said extensive police resources had been devoted to the search, and appealed to Mr Cockie to hand himself into police. "It's concerning that a person may be in possession of a firearm in our community," he said. Detective Webb said a gunshot had been fired into a home in the northern Perth suburb of Clarkson at about 10pm on Tuesday, and police believed Mr Cockie could help them with their inquiries into the matter. One person was inside the house at the time, but had not been injured. "There was damage to a house but there were no injuries to any person," he said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kelly Clarkson Postpones Las Vegas Residency Hours Before Opening Night
Kelly Clarkson postponed her Las Vegas residency hours before its first show Friday as the singer revealed that preparing for the shows has 'taken a toll on my voice.' The singer and daytime talk show host was scheduled to begin her Studio Sessions residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on July 4th. However, hours before showtime Friday, Clarkson posted on social media that both of this weekend's opening gigs were off. More from Rolling Stone Kelly Clarkson Returns to Las Vegas: How to Get Last-Minute Tickets for Her 2025 Residency Shows Kelly Clarkson Turned Martin Short and Meryl Streep's Onscreen Romance Into a Song Sheryl Crow Thinks Kelly Clarkson's Version of 'All I Wanna Do' Is Better Than Her Own 'We have been working 24/7 to make Studio Sessions the most intimate and extraordinary experience with and for my incredible fans. I am beyond grateful that you always show up for me and I am devastated to have to postpone tonight and tomorrow's opening at Caesars,' Clarkson wrote. 'The prep and rehearsals have taken a toll on my voice. I want the shows to be perfect for y'all and I need to protect myself from doing serious damage so I am taking this weekend and next week to rest up so that we can deliver what you all deserve. The show is truly incredible. The musicians and singers are outstanding, and I want us all to start out strong.' Clarkson is hopeful that the vocal issues are only temporary, as she's already aiming to open the residency next weekend. 'I can't wait to be back next weekend and show y'all what we've been working on,' she added. Clarkson is no stranger to Vegas, having previously held a residency at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. That show ran from 2023 to 2024. The singer has not gone on a proper tour since 2019, which was in support of her 2017 album Meaning of Life. 'We're bringing the studio to the stage this time with 'Studio Sessions,'' Clarkson previously said of the residency when it was announced back in February. The residency is slated to run through August 16, with encore dates scheduled for November; it's unclear when the postponed dates will be rescheduled. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
