@booboo said in 11. 2024 TOTY LEFT WINGER (THE KARL MARX AWARD):
Please refer rule 6a...
Left wing is an interesting position because I don’t think there has been a very clear stand-out. I’ve tried looking at some of the candidates and pick out some stats.
The World Rugby left wing-selection for their Team of the Year, James Lowe, was good in the Six Nations but had a relatively poor Autumn Nations series (7 turnovers lost and 9 tackles missed across 3 Tests) and a mixed outing against South Africa in July (his touchline blunder in the first Test effectively the difference in that game).
Someone like Louis Bielle-Biarrey, on the other hand, was prominent in the November Internationals but generally lacked impact during the Six Nations (3 starts, 1 appearance from the bench). Against England, for example, he had 1 carry for 7 metres made. Against Scotland, he had 5 carries for 20 metres made, beating just one defender in the process. His only solid attacking contribution came against a very poor Wales side, where he made 9 carries for 84 metres made. Even in the Autumn Nations series, where he was at his best, Bielle-Biarrey still struggled to impose his game against Tier 1 defences. After making 123 metres against another poor defensive side in Japan, Bielle-Biarrey only made 34 and 19 metres in the next two games, against New Zealand and Argentina respectively. While his speed on counter-attack and his defensive nous are genuine weapons at Test level, he hasn’t yet reached the levels on attack of someone like his compatriot, Damian Penaud.
For me, Caleb Clarke has been the most consistent performer this year on the left wing. In 9 Tests (7 wins, 2 losses), Clarke has scored 7 tries, has averaged 9 carries for around 70 metres made, made about 1 line-break per game and beat nearly 4 defenders a game. In a game where defence has been king in recent years, Clarke’s ability to consistently make metres has been an invaluable resource for the ABs’ attacking game, using his power to bend the line or his speed to get behind the defence. One could also argue that some of the poorer NZ offensive performances this season – England 1 & 2, South Africa 2 – coincided with Clarke’s absence, his finishing prowess and ability to beat defenders sorely missed.
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Clarke can be perceived as having a less impactful Northern Tour with no tries scored in November, but even then, he still provided plenty of impetus on attack (averaging 9 carries for around 50 metres made, beating more than 3 defenders per game), paired with an added accuracy and involvement on defence (making 16 out of his 18 tackle attempts).
This consistent involvement and ability to make metres against the best defences also makes him stand-out against other big left-wingers, like Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe, who can make a lot of metres against more chaotic defensive systems (146m against Fiji; 74m against Wales) but struggles much more to impact the game against the top 5 teams in the world. In contrast, Clarke has his averages only drop slightly against top opposition.
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Caleb Clarke and Duhan van der Merwe’s attacking averages against France, Ireland and South Africa (3 tests each)
All that being said, Clarke still has plenty of room for further improvement, such as his discipline (0.7 penalties conceded on average and two yellow cards during the season) and his (lack of) variety to his game (an increase in his pass/kick/offload-numbers would make him more difficult to defend against).
But he has shown himself to be an impressively consistent presence on the wing with an ability to beat defenders through power and speed as well as finish attacking opportunities. Add in improved efforts on defence, and one could argue that Clarke was one of the most consistent AB backs of the 2024 Test season. I think he’s more than deserving of a nomination, and would be my personal choice for the left wing.
