Craig Brian James Clarke (born ) is a retired

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. He played as a lock during his career, winning two

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

titles with the Chiefs where he served as captain. He also captained

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dis ...

in the ITM Cup. Before his retirement he was playing for the Irish provincial team Connacht in the Pro12, and served as the team captain.https://www.allblacks.com/news/former-chiefs-captain-craig-clarke-to-retire-from-rugby Clarke's ability to anticipate play and adaptability to the referee's rulings are two of his key attributes.

Early career

Born in the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

, Clarke grew up in

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay ( Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the nor ...

, where he attended Gisborne Boys' High School. He had originally moved to Canterbury on a scholarship to the

Canterbury Rugby Union The Canterbury Rugby Football Union (also referred to as "Canterbury" or "CRFU") is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design. The CRFU govern t ...

and to

Canterbury University The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

to study geology. He made his debut for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in a

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

match against Marlborough.

Professional club career

New Zealand

During Clarke's domestic career he has reached the quarter-finals of New Zealand's National Provincial Championship on three occasions, once with

in the 2006 season, and twice with

in their

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

campaigns. He has also played in two semi-finals, again with

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

respectively, but has never played in a final. He became a Crusaders Wider Training Group member in 2005, making his Super 12 debut against the Reds, he went on to gain two more caps later that year. In 2007 he again made the Crusaders Wider Training Group which only prompted a move to the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm, storm system characterized by a Low-pressure area, low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, Beaufort scale, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms tha ...

. Clarke was capped 13 times for the Hurricanes in 2008, including seven starts at lock. Clarke was drafted to the Chiefs for the 2009 season, and was of their most consistent performers towards the Super 14 final against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

. In the final, however, the Chiefs were beaten convincingly, with a final score of 61–17. He then re-signed with the Chiefs in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and 2011, with the team finishing both years in tenth place. In the 2012 season, Clarke was co-captain of the side as the team won its first ever title, beating the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

37–6 in the final. The following season Clarke led the team to another

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, this time facing the Brumbies. The Chiefs became the 4th Super Rugby franchise to record back to back title wins, when they bet the Australian side 27–22, with this being Clarke's final game for the team.

Move abroad

Clarke joined Irish provincial team Connacht in the Pro12, ahead of the 2013–14 season, having signed a three-year contract. With Connacht bottom of the Pro 12 after a poor run of form, which culminated in a 43–10 defeat against

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Clarke was made Connacht's team captain. He captained the team in one of their greatest ever victories as they beat four time European champions

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

away in the

Stade Ernest-Wallon The Stade Ernest-Wallon (; oc, Estadi Ernest-Wallon, italic=no; ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sept Deniers district of Toulouse, in southwestern France. Described as a "temple to the oval ball", it is the home ground for the rug ...

, in the

Heineken Cup pool stages Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 F ...

. Clarke's first season with Connacht was ended prematurely when he was forced to take a break from the game indefinitely, due to concerns for his health after he suffered his tenth concussion in less than two years in a Heineken Cup match with

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

on 18 January 2014. In June of that year Clarke announced his retirement from rugby on medical advice.

International career

Clarke was part of New Zealand's under-age international set up. Clarke was involved in the New Zealand under 19 team when they won the

Under 19 Rugby World Championship The IRB under-19 Rugby World Cup was the premier tournament for male rugby union players under the age of 19 organised by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB) annually from 2004 until 2007. Both it and the Under 21 Rugby Wo ...

that took place in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 2002, beating the French U19s in the final. He was also part of the Under 21s in 2004, when they won the

Under 21 Rugby World Championship The IRB Under 21 Rugby World Cup was the premier tournament for male rugby union players under the age of 21, organised by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB) annually from 2002 through 2006. Both it and the Under 19 Rugby ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, this time beating Ireland in the final. In 2009, Clarke was called up to play for New Zealand's secondary international side, the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

. Although Clarke, then aged 26, had played only sixteen matches for the Crusaders and Hurricanes, the Junior All Black coaches selected him as cover for Bryn Evans for the Pacific Nations Cup. Clarke's international test debut came against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

Apia Park Apia Park is a multi-function sports complex located in Apia, the capital of Samoa. Primarily used for rugby union events, Apia Park is the home stadium of the Samoa national rugby union team, Manu Samoa. It is also a venue for association footbal ...

on 12 June 2009, when he replaced Tom Donnelly after 56 minutes. He was named to start in the next match against Japan, where on his first start, Clarke scored a try before half-time in a 52–21 victory.

References

External links

Chiefs profileHurricanes profileYahoo NZ profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Craig Living people 1983 births New Zealand rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Crusaders (rugby union) players Connacht Rugby players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Masterton Canterbury rugby union players Taranaki rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland People educated at Gisborne Boys' High School Rugby union players from Gisborne, New Zealand