Du'Plessis Kirifi looks on during a Hurricanes Super Rugby training session at Rugby League Park on August 03, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Du'Plessis Kirifi looks on during a Hurricanes Super Rugby training session at Rugby League Park on August 03, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
OPINION
Caleb Clarke, the church-going and volunteering wing with the nicest disposition you are likely to encounter away from a rugby pitch, has suddenly become a household name in New Zealand, if not Australasia and much further afield, for the way he has taken to the game at the highestlevel.
Clarke's rise this year is a credit to himself and his family, of course, but also the New Zealand sevens programme he was on before he joined the Blues this year, plus the Blues and their coach Leon MacDonald, and, more recently the All Black environment.
Say what you like about the All Blacks' performance in Wellington during the drawn Bledisloe 1 test, clearly Ian Foster, Sam Cane and the rest of the team's leaders must be doing something right to allow a 21-year-old to enter an extremely high-intensity and high-pressure situation and have the confidence to immediately express himself, and Clarke's performance at Eden Park was sensational, but, crucially, not entirely unexpected.
Caleb Clarke of the All Blacks makes a break during the Bledisloe Cup match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images.
The same goes for lock Tupou Vaa'i, a 20-year-old who was building fences with his dad in Auckland during the first Covid lockdown before getting a call-up for the Chiefs. Vaa'i, who like Clarke made his first test start at Eden Park, was a muscular and busy presence in the second row and was singled out for praise by Foster the day after the 27-7 victory.
Prop Alex Hodgman was also superb on debut when playing 50 minutes after replacing the injured Joe Moody.
So, given those impressive starts, who's next to announce himself on the world stage?
I would wager that Du'Plessis Kirifi is likely to be the next one to get the opportunity and the Wellington and Hurricanes loose forward, who has been called up this week due to Ardie Savea's paternity leave, should get it as early as a week on Saturday at ANZ Stadium.
If Savea is ruled out of Bledisloe 3, and, as he will not travel with the squad on Sunday morning he presumably will be, then Hoskins Sotutu, a No8 specialist who has enjoyed a solid start to his test career off the reserves bench in Wellington and Auckland, will almost certainly start at the back of the scrum, with the impressive Shannon Frizell retaining his place at blindside and skipper Sam Cane at No7.
Caleb Clarke in action during the All Blacks V Wallabies rugby match held at Eden Park. 18 October 2020 New Zealand Herald photograph by Dean Purcell.
That leaves a space in the match-day squad for a pure fetcher in the form of Kirifi, a player made in Savea's dynamic style, who also brings a hard physical edge to his game – an area where the All Blacks enjoyed dominance over the Wallabies at Eden Park after coming second best there a week earlier.
Kirifi, 23, plays far above his 104kg due to an aggression and drive which is similar to that of Savea and hooker Dane Coles, and that, plus his pace, might be enough to push him ahead of Dalton Papali'i on the bench.
He also has a big fan in head coach Foster, who likes the way he attacks the ball at the breakdown and uses his shoulders on defence.
With no Savea, the All Blacks need speed among their loose forward cover to combat the limpet-like turnover skills of Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper at the breakdown.
Kirifi would be a like-for-like replacement for Cane in the event of an injury. He would also be a straight swap for Frizell, or, if Sotutu needs replacing, Cane could move to No8, allowing Kirifi to play on the openside.
He has the perfect game to disrupt the Wallabies and a clear path to follow to achieve success.
The Aussies, with big decisions to make after their second-half Clarke-inspired collapse at Eden Park, may need to ready themselves for a new breakout star.
