Black Ferns fan favourite Ruby Tui celebrates a try. Photo / Photosport
Black Ferns fan favourite Ruby Tui celebrates a try. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
By Gregor Paul in Edinburgh
Caleb Clarke was a virtual spectator last week in Cardiff, the power wing reduced to just a couple of meaningful touches in a game that passed him by.
There he was, out on the left wing, poised, eager and willing to test thedefence of his opposite number Louis Rees-Zammit, and he never got the chance.
The ball just didn’t come his way as the All Blacks forwards took control of the game, deciding, given the excellent progress they were making with their own ball-carrying, that there was no need to involve the backs.
Asked after the All Blacks had completed training in Edinburgh, what he thought about the test, Clarke said he felt it was a bit unusual to be so little involved, but that was simply the nature of how things unfolded.
More tellingly, however, he admitted that as he saw the forwards relentlessly smash their way to the tryline, hitting wave after wave of runners as they recycled the ball at incredible speed, that: “I should have helped out.”
That was an admission that sounded like those very words were delivered to him during the team’s review of the game.
It’s unlikely that head coach Ian Foster would have been happy with the way both Clarke and Sevu Reece kept themselves so rigidly on their flanks.
It can often be the curse of a wing in an arm-wrestle such as the game in Cardiff became, where they come off their wing looking for action and then find themselves out of position the one time the ball comes to their flank.
It’s a tricky balance to get right – being patient can reap rewards but then it can also leave a wing isolated, and judging by Clarke’s admission, he’s realised he could have picked up some of the ball-carrying burden close to the ruck.
At 108kg, with his leg drive and speed, the coaches obviously wanted Clarke, who is one of the most explosive runners in the team, to smash a few yards himself.
But he didn’t recognise the need, which is illustrative of a more general issue that has arisen this year, which is that the All Blacks wings haven’t been great at getting themselves into the game.
Will Jordan produced a few significant linebreaks throughout the Rugby Championship by running an inside line off his first-five, but generally, none of the All Blacks wings have produced high enough work rates.
And if anyone doubts this, they should look at the way the Black Ferns have utilised Ruby Tui, or maybe it would be fairer to say, how Tui has utilised herself.
Caleb Clarke celebrates a try with Sevu Reece. Photo / Photosport
Be it from the wing or fullback, her work rate throughout the World Cup has been phenomenal.
She has popped up close to the ruck, in the midfield and on the wrong wing, seemingly able to also scramble back to do the work of two defenders.
Tui has run herself into the ground each test she has played and when this tournament is finished and people scroll through the various highlights clips, in time, they will see how often she was the player who made a linebreak, a momentum-changing tackle or a critical pass because she injected herself somewhere in the backline to create an overlap.
There’s a lesson there about the importance of work rate and the need to go looking for things to do and so too have the Black Ferns reminded the All Blacks that they can create a few more set plays where they bring the blindside wing into action.
Clarke has had an okay season with the All Blacks, producing a handful of memorable linebreaks, but also missing some critical tackles and dropping a few balls.
His position isn’t likely to be under pressure, but the return of Anton Lienert-Brown to full fitness does open the prospect of him moving to centre and ousting Rieko Ioane to the wing.
It’s an option at least and why Clarke will need to up his work rate in Edinburgh to show that he can contribute even if the game isn’t flowing his way.
He’s such a deadly force when he does hit the ball at pace as he’s one of the few players in the world game who can run over the top of defenders.
That’s why he’s such a potential threat if used close to the ruck, because he’s capable of taking the contact and then driving his legs out of the tackle to get behind the defensive line, and he can’t really afford to have another test where he is a virtual spectator.
