Blockbusting wing Caleb Clarke has shelved his All Blacks Sevens ambitions in a bid to return to the form that saw him become a breakout star for the All Blacks in 2020.
This year, Clarke chose to chase his Olympic dream rather than a second year with the All Blacks, but failed to earn selection to the silver medal-winning squad for Tokyo, joining the team as a travelling reserve and not making it onto the field.
But the 22-year-old has no regrets and he's hungrier than ever to be back playing.
"It's all part of the journey, and I always try and take the lessons - positive or negative - and what I can work on," Clarke tells Newshub.
"As much as I wanted to play the Olympics and be there it just wasn't meant to be."
In 2020, Clarke's jaw-dropping Super Rugby campaign made him a household name.
His play saw him earn five test caps for the All Blacks but his decision to try and play at the Olympics - coupled with the ongoing pandemic - left him shut out of the national side this year.
Clarke's return to the field is a process he won't be rushing.
"I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself, so I'm just enjoying training right now," he says.
"I'll be looking forward to playing but that's all I really want to focus on."
And helping Clarke with that is the Blues' newest recruit Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who has taken him under his wing in his short time with the team - an experience Clarke's been relishing.
"[Tuivasa-Sheck] has been someone who's really helped me out during lockdown, not just with my rugby and my skills but also mentally as a person," says Clarke.
"He's really helped me out, so being around the Tuivasa-Sheck family's been really helpful for me."
It's kept him fresh as he awaits his return to rugby.
In the meantime, Clarke admits watching his embattled former All Blacks teammates hasn't been an enjoyable experience.
"It was tough watching the boys go down," he notes. "They'd been gone for so long and those last two days..,. I was really gutted."
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