Aussies sevens coach Tim Walsh welcomes destructive rival Caleb Clarke
Australian sevens coach Tim Walsh is excited to see Caleb Clarke make himself available for the All Blacks team for Tokyo.
Australian sevens coach Tim Walsh is excited to see destructive New Zealander Caleb Clarke make himself available for the All Blacks team for the Tokyo Olympics – even if it denies them a medal.
On Monday, Clarke, who tore the Wallabies to shreds in his starting debut at Eden Park last year, as well as fellow young gun Etene Nanai-Seturo returned to the All Blacks Sevens program.
Their timely returns bolster an already intimidating side, who were leading the World Sevens series when the COVID pandemic brought the tournament to a halt.
The pools for the Tokyo Games have yet to be confirmed, with a repechage tournament to confirm the final qualified nations, but Australia (No 4) are set to meet their trans-Tasman cousins in the pool stages.
It’s a scary prospect for an Australian men’s sevens team who are trying to match the feats of the women’s team, who inspired a generation to start playing the game with their scintillating skills and athleticism to win gold at Rio.
“We actually love it as a team that he’s playing,” Walsh told foxsports.com.au. “The Olympics is going to be massive. It’s the pinnacle of sport. You want the best playing and we want to beat the best.
“Caleb’s a very good sevens player and an amazing 15s player, and he’s going to get a pretty good lead-in. He went off and played Super Rugby and the All Blacks, and now he’s going to get a decent lead in. They’re in our pool and we’re looking forward to playing them.
“I guess for those two it was choosing an Olympic opportunity over a handful of Super caps and possibly for Caleb a few Test matches, but he’s going to be around for a long time. But he’s gunning for an Olympic medal and we look forward to playing him.”
Walsh’s squad returns to Sydney on Tuesday night after a week’s heat camp in Darwin to prepare for July’s Tokyo Games.
From pushing trucks to triple training sessions, where they cover 110m per minute for an hour, the camp was an important step on the road to Tokyo, which saw the likes of former captain Lewis Holland return to the squad.
Unlike 2016, where Wallaby Henry Speight followed Sonny Bill Williams’s lead in trying to win a medal, Walsh’s side is highly unlikely to have any Test players, with Waratahs fullback Jack Maddocks’ bid to make the Games all but over because of his Super Rugby commitments.
Along with the Olympic champion women’s team, Walsh’s side could get their first glimpse of Clarke when the trans-Tasman rivals meet at Eden Park for six games over three days later this month to replicate the format they will play at July’s Games. It will be their first international matches in almost 500 days.
It can also be revealed that Townsville North Queensland Stadium will host next month’s Oceania Tournament, which will see Fiji’s Olympic champions also play Australia and New Zealand.
“We get together as Oceania – Fiji, New Zealand – and using our competitive advantage, which is each other,” Walsh said.
“We’re trying to find out our best location that’s going to fulfil all of our preparation goals and there’s obviously budgets and heat, and that was the best fit and they’re really keen to host us, which is amazing.”
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