Blues captain reveals the one ‘worry’ about All Blacks star after dangerous driving offence

Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has revealed that the Auckland-based outfit are supporting speedster Caleb Clarke after he admitted to driving dangerously and failing to stop for police.

The case against Clarke, who has represented the All Blacks in 29 Tests and scored 13 tries, was heard in the Auckland District Court on Monday but he was excused from attending.

According to court documents, Clarke was driving his motorbike on State Highway 16 in the Mount Albert suburb in Auckland on December 3 when his driving attracted the attention of police.

‘We’ve just got to get around him’

“He’s a smart person and he knows he’s made a mistake. He’s sorry for his actions and we’ve just got to get around him,” Tuipulotu told 1News after a Blues training session on Wednesday.

“He knows the procedure now… being a close friend and a team-mate, you can’t do nothing else but be beside him and help him through.

“I reached out to him, let him know ‘I’m here for you’ and I think a lot of others did the same.”

After being crowned Super Rugby Pacific champions in 2024, the Blues have made a poor start to their 2025 campaign as they have suffered back-to-back defeats against the Chiefs and Highlanders in their first two matches.

All Blacks star left ‘extremely apologetic and embarrassed’ after dangerous driving offence

They head to Wellington on Saturday to take on the Hurricanes in another New Zealand derby and while the news of Clarke’s incident is not ideal, Tuipulotu said it won’t be a distraction for the Blues ahead of a match which they can ill afford to lose.

“We’re old enough now, it won’t be a distraction, we have to get on with rugby,” explained the All Blacks second-row.

‘He’s a very emotional person and wears his heart on his sleeve’

“We’ll just help him (Caleb) through it, he’s a very emotional person and wears his heart on his sleeve so there’s that worry there.

“But with his support crew that he has, his family and his teammates in the Blues, he’ll be all right.”

Speaking on the Blues’ poor start to the season, Tuipulotu admitted that they might have been complacent in their previous two matches and that opposing teams had worked out how to deal with their direct and physical approach.

“It’s hard looking at the results, two losses on the trot and in games where we were lacking a bit of forward effort,” he said. “We’ll have a good, hard look at ourselves.”

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