More Records For The Clarkes

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30137, 22 May 1963, Page 11

More Records For The Clarkes

THE Clarke brothers of Kereone are destined, so it seems, to occupy a commanding place in the records of New Zealand Rugby. This impression gained further impetus at the week-end when both lan, aged 32, and Don, rising 30, gained selection in the All Black side for the first test against England. They will thereby become, at Eden Park on Saturday, joint holders with R. A. White of the record for most appearances in international matches for New Zealand. Don Clarke, who is said to have only the vaguest idea of how many points he has scored in any one : game or season, already has his name associated with a multitude of records. Among them are those for most points for New Zealand, most points in tests, most points in first-class Rugby, most points centuries in a New Zealand season, and most penalty goals in a season. He can also claim two world records—most penalty goals in an international match and most points on a, major tour. While his younger brother has capjtured the public imagination by the power and precision of his kicking, lan Clarke has been quietly setting two outstanding records in durability. He has played in more first-class games than anyone else in New Zealand's Rugby history—his total is now 226 —

and he has played most games tor New Zealand, 67. To mark his feat in surpassing K. L. Skinner’s figure of most games for New Zealand, Clarke was awarded the captaincy of the All Blacks in the final match of their Australia tour, at Melbourne, last season. But in actual fact he had set the new mark two games earlier, at Canberra. From a family point of view, the Clarkes’ proudest record was established on an August afternoon in 1961, when all five brothers—the

others are Douglas (31), Brian (27), and Graeme (22) —took the field in the Waikato XV which played Thames Valley. Only once previously, in 1903, has such a feat been claimed. More records are likely to falj before the Clarke era ends. But it is probable that the fervent hope of this remarkable Rugby family is that lan Clarke, now in his tenth season as an All Black, can become the first New Zealander to make two tours of the British Isles and France.