Caleb Clarke stars on an emotional day for the 21-year-old

Caleb Clarke stars on an emotional day for the 21-year-old

The emotions were high before the Blues clash at Eden Park on Saturday with the Blues' paying tribute to Blues' fanatic Constable Matthew Hunt who recently passed away.

The camera panned over the players during the tribute as a helicopter flew over the stadium as a salute to the Constable, Caleb Clarke looked more emotional than his teammates and there was a very good reason why.

Earlier in the day, Clarke got the news of his grandfather's passing. 

At the ripe age of 21-year-old, no one would have given a second thought to Clarke missing the game on compassionate grounds but the high flying winger opted to go and feature in the game.


The emotions did not get the better of the youngster on the pitch as he starred in the Blues' 27-24 win over the Highlanders scoring and assisting a try in the first half.



He opened the scoring with a well-taken try as he threw a dummy, ghosted through a gap and ran over Highlanders' fullback Scott Gregory to score.


Clarke's celebration of the try was notable as he pointed to the sky tributing his try to his late grandfather.

His impact on the game did not stop there as he set Rieko Ioane up for a try that is already being tipped to be the try of the season.

He received the ball from Otere Black, skipped past a would-be tackler drew the last defender and put Rieko Ioane away to score.



Clarke's game was far from all out attack. He made 6 of his attempted tackles and won a turnover.

He was excellent in the air and came up with his excellent tap back from Beauden Barrett's kick off in the first half. 


In the latter stages of the game, the Highlanders also had a rolling maul that looked destined to finish in a try but Hoskins Sotutu did well to disrupt the initial set before Clarke rushed into hold up the ball carrier to force the scrum.

Clarke had arguably his best game of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season but that doesn't mean he has been poor in prior games. He was the only player in Super Rugby Aotearoa (min. 2 appearances) to average double digits in metres gained per carry (10).

He continued in this vain on Saturday making 86 running metres from his 8 carries.


Clarke was not set to play for the Blues this Super Rugby season as he was supposed to feature for the All Black Sevens throughout the World Sevens Series in the build up to the Olympics in Japan.

However, his recent form with the Blues leading many to suggest that he should be in the mix for an All Black call up when test rugby resumes.









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