By Hamish McKay
The Chiefs remain hopeful they'll have the services of inspirational captain Craig Clarke for Saturday night’s Super Rugby decider against the Sharks in Hamilton.
Clarke suffered a medial ligament strain early in the semi-final win over the Crusaders but battled on bravely, leading his troops to victory.
Words of wisdom were all Clarke could pass on at Chiefs training today, with the skipper in a race to be fit for the final.
“It stiffened up in the days following the game, but did a good pool session yesterday and lots of ice and it’s free up today and feeling good,” he says. “I'm not a big knee man. I've never injured my knee so it's a little bit unknown.”
Clarke has led the Chiefs by example and, much to his coach's delight, has proved a crafty campaigner at lineout time as well.
“It’s not just his locking,” says Chiefs coach Dave Rennie. “Obviously his leadership and he calls the lineout and he's been great for us and it would be a shame for him to miss out.”
With a knee injury set to rule out their skipper, was an ice pack on Sonny Bill Williams’ knee cause for alarm?
“Just old age, brother, old age.”
Tickets for Saturday night’s final are still available as the Chiefs search for their first ever Super Rugby title.
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