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'Michael Hooper grabbed my nuts': All Blacks star Caleb Clarke's sensational Bledisloe Cup revelation
By Online Editors
It's the tackle which makes the toughest of rugby players grimace.
Bledisloe Cup star Caleb Clarke revealed that Wallabies captain Michael Hooper grabbed his testicles, as Clarke went on one of his many tackle busting runs at Eden Park.
But far from being overawed, Clarke took the nearest available medical advice and tried to get Hooper back during the second Bledisloe Cup rugby test.
Clarke was being interviewed on Sky TV after the game, where he was shown some of his amazing runs which inspired the 27–7 victory.
"You know, Michael Hooper grabbed my nuts just then…it was really sore. I was trying to push his hand off," said Clarke after reviewing the tape.
"In this run I tried to get him back…Pete (Gallagher), our physio, said, 'Just get him back'. I tried to do it there," he revealed.
It was a speech to rival rugby's most famous interview at the same ground, in 1956.
After scoring a great try to beat the Springboks, the rampaging Northland No. 8 Peter Jones caused something close to a broadcasting scandal when he simply told a radio journalist: "I'm absolutely buggered." Times have changed.
Clarke broke 12 tackles in eight runs during the test with one of his busting runs setting up a try for Ardie Savea in the second half.
The 21-year-old revealed he wouldn't have to wait long before getting words of wisdom from his All Black father.
Eroni, a 10-test All Black of the 1990s, loves to go over match tapes with him as soon as possible, and the test match would be no different.
Clarke, in his first test start after impressing off the bench last weekend, received a standing ovation when he limped from the field in the 68th minute, star in the ascendent and presumably a fixture in the No 11 jersey for the foreseeable future.
Clarke, described as a "handful" by Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, said he was just as nervous as he was last weekend in Wellington when he came on for the final 11 minutes of the 16-16 draw.
"I was still nervous – that was the funny thing," he said. "I had quite a broken sleep, with feelings of excitement and nervousness."
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Latest Comments
Agreed. And I don't have much more to say on it, but I had been having one thought that sprang to mind at the tail of this discussion, and that is that it's not all about Razor.
It's not about any coach being "right". I think a lot of selections can become defense and while it doesn't really apply here I really enjoyed that Andy Farrell just gave into the public demands and changed out his team for the change that had been asked for. Like why not? This is the countries team, keep them engaged. The whole reason i've only just finished watching the game was because I wasn't interested in watching any of the selected players against a team like Italy (still actually enjoyed the first half with the contest Italy made of it).
Faz leap frogs a younger half back into start. He hands the golden child the game over July's golden child. He gives an old winger a go, a new flanker and hooker. None of them really did any good, certainly not enough to suggest they should have been promoted above others, but who cares? You won, and you gave the country what they wanted, that's all that matters after all. It's for the country, not the one in charge who thinks they have to have their own pied piper tune playing.
Go to commentsAs Naas would say... A win is a win.
It was not perfect and at times frustrating. All 3 tests were not the best by the Boks and they still found ways to win.
Rassie would have noted the sloppyness at times and silly mistakes. The 9's made amateur handling mistakes when clearing the rucks in all 3 tests.
Once the "stupid" mistakes are eliminated, this Bok team will be very very hard to beat.
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