Caleb Clarke had a big impact off the bench for the All Blacks in their Bledisloe Cup opener. Photo / Photosport
Caleb Clarke had a big impact off the bench for the All Blacks in their Bledisloe Cup opener. Photo / Photosport
Standout replacement winger Caleb Clarke has opened up about the moment he thought he had let Australia beat the All Blacks in Sunday's opening Bledisloe Cup test.
Waiting under the goal posts as Australian long-range goal-kicking specialist Reece Hodge took a penalty to win the match, Clarke would no doubthave presumed his night was over as the ball flew with vigour at the uprights - it would either miss and fly past the dead-ball line, or the All Blacks would lose.
Suddenly, those thoughts were put to the side as the ball instead hammered against a goal post and flew directly towards the big winger.
Clarke ran towards the quickly-descending ball and dived to take it cleanly before it hit the turf. However, he struggled to take the ball cleanly, putting several of his own potential support players offside and allowing Australia to retake possession.
"I'm still buzzing but the one thing that sticks out for me is dropping that last penalty off the post," Clarke told NZME after the fulltime whistle had sounded.
"When they got that penalty on halfway I was hoping it was going to miss, and it did, but I ended up dropping the ball off the post. First my heart sank, the first thing I actually thought was 'did I just lose us the game?'. Then we fought back and defended our line really well."
The moment Caleb Clarke bobbled the ball in extra time. Photo / Fox Sports
Indeed, the All Blacks did just enough to hold off the fast-charging Wallabies and pluck a draw from the jaws of defeat - though Clarke remained focussed on a potential victory throughout the thrilling finish.
"I was hoping we weren't going to get penalised, then the turnover happened. I was keen to attack, to get that first win, and I thought we would when we were right on their line.
"It was quite the emotional roller-coaster for me personally because it started off with a dropped ball and ended right on their line. I'm still processing it all but real grateful to be here."
Despite the heart-sinking moment, Clarke's performance off the bench earned much praise and calls have already begun for him to start Sunday's follow-up Test at Eden park.
Caleb Clarke went straight to be being a major test rugby threat .
