Caleb Clarke hat-trick powers Blues to their first Super Rugby title in 21 years
Blues flyer Caleb Clarke launches and attack against the Chiefs.
Caleb Clarke scored a hat-trick of tries as the Blues cruised to an easy 41-10 victory over the Chiefs in the Super Rugby Pacific final at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
Apart from Clarke’s hat-trick, Akira Ioane and AJ Lam also crossed the whitewash while Harry Plummer finished with a 16-point haul after succeeding with five conversions and two penalties.
For the Chiefs, Simon Parker crossed for a try while Damian McKenzie added a conversion and a penalty.
Click here for scorers
The win is a momentous one for the Blues as it is their first full Super Rugby title win since 2003, although they were crowned Super Rugby Trans-Tasman winners in 2021. However, that was a shortened version of the competition which was contested between the New Zealand and Australian franchises during the Covid-19 period.
Emotions were running high just before kick off at Eden Park as a minute’s silence was brilliantly observed for former Highlanders and Maori All Blacks outside back Connor Garden-Bachop, who passed away in Christchurch earlier this week.
The match started at a frenetic pace with both sides giving the ball plenty of air but the Chiefs held a slight edge early on as they were camped inside the Blues’ half during the early stages.
McKenzie had a chance to open the scoring early on when he lined up a long-range penalty but his effort was wide of the mark. Soon after that the Blues took charge of proceedings when flanker Ioane crossed for the opening try from close quarters and the Blues soon held a 10-0 lead when Plummer slotted a penalty in the 16th minute.
McKenzie then added a three-pointer of his own before Clarke got over for his first try in the 22nd minute when he crashed over after Hoskins Sotutu and Rieko Ioane laid the groundwork with strong carries in the build-up.
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Plummer slotted his second penalty in the latter stages of the half which meant the home side had their tails up as they held a 20-3 lead at half-time.
🏆 1996
🏆 1997
🏆 2003
🏆 2024THE 21-YEAR WAIT IS OVER FOR THE BLUES 🤩 pic.twitter.com/KhXqqRvaJu
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) June 22, 2024
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the 51t minute when George Dyer was yellow carded for offside play on defence, after referee Nic Berry had given the Chiefs several warnings prior to that for similar offences.
With a numerical advantage, the Blues upped the ante on the attack and shortly after Dyer’s departure Clarke crossed for his second five-pointer with Plummer adding the extras to give his side a comfortable 27-3 lead.
10 minutes later, the Blues launched an attack off the back of a lineout deep inside Chiefs territory and after Stephen Perofeta was stopped close to the posts, the ball was shifted out wide to Clarke who shrugged off a tackle from McKenzie before clinching his hat-trick.
With the score 34-3, the match was in the bag for the Blues but the Chiefs did not surrender and Parker crossed for a consolation try after excellent work from Anton Lienert-Brown in the build-up.
Despite that score, the Blues were not done and they sealed an emphatic win when Lam burrowed his way over the try-line in the 73rd minute.
The teams
Blues: 15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 AJ Lam, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Harry Plummer, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi
Replacements: 16 Kurt Eklund, 17 Joshua Fusitu’a, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Josh Beehre, 20 Adrian Choat, 21 Taufa Funaki, 22 Bryce Heem, 23 Cole Forbes
Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Rameka Poihipi, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Luke Jacobson (c), 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Jimmy Tupou, 3 George Dyer, 2 Tyrone Thompson, 1 Aidan Ross
Replacements: 16 Bradley Slater, 17 Jared Proffit, 18 Reuben O’Neill, 19 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 20 Simon Parker, 21 Xavier Roe, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Daniel Rona
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way (Australia), Damon Murphy (Australia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)