Caleb Clarke confirms Olympic bid

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Blues winger Caleb Clarke lines up Highlanders fullback Connor Garden-Bachop. Photo: Photosport/RNZ

All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke has confirmed he has put his hand up for selection in New Zealand’s Olympic rugby sevens team for the Tokyo Games meaning he will miss the start of the All Black international season.

Clarke and Chiefs player Etene Nanai-Seturo have returned to the sevens programme hoping to impress Olympic selectors against Australia’s sevens team later this month before another Oceania-based tournament expected in June.

The All Blacks are scheduled to play two tests against Italy and one against Fiji in July but may end up playing only Fiji with the Italians reportedly expected to pull out of the tour due to the pandemic.

Caleb Clarke said he was enjoying being back with the All Blacks Sevens team.

“Going to the Olympics would be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I’m looking forward to getting back into training and putting my best foot forward,” Clarke said.

All Blacks Sevens coach Clark Laidlaw said he is delighted to have the players back.

“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. The communication and connection has stayed strong in this period so now it’s about realigning them with how we are doing things and getting them back up to speed with our game.

“They are both fit, fast and strong so physically they’ll slot in, our game has evolved a bit in the past six months though so some of the technical and tactical stuff will be really important to get right.”

-RNZ

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