Cam Clark joins the ACT Brumbies ahead of Super Rugby Pacific 2022

To play at Torero Stadium, a 6000-seat university campus venue filled with bleachers and nestled between two highways. This is where Clark had captained the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby.

But then a phone call in hotel quarantine upon his return to Australia changed everything. Dan McKellar wanted Clark in Canberra, and the ACT Brumbies?

"It's a team you don't really say no to," Clark said.

A sevens star turned Waratah will fill a void in the Brumbies' ranks with Clark set to make his Super Rugby return in Canberra.

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The Brumbies have signed the 28-year-old outside back on a one-year deal for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, filling the slot left by Solomone Kata.

Kata has been granted a release from his Brumbies contract to stay in Auckland for family reasons, with Moana Pasifika emerging as a potential suitor for the Tongan and New Zealand rugby league international.

Clark joins the Brumbies following a season in the United States, having played 35 Super Rugby games with the NSW Waratahs following his time in Australia's sevens program.

"Initially after the MLR season I was looking at opportunities to see if there was anything back in Australia, and I was also willing to go back to America as well, back to San Diego for another year in the MLR," Clark said.

"As this year has proven with COVID and travel restrictions and things like that, I just thought for my partner and I it would be best to stay in Australia. When this opportunity came up, it's a team you don't really say no to. I was pumped to get the call.

"I've also seen other players go down there and take their game to the next level. Under the coaching staff there, I'm still looking to improve and get better as a player. It's going to be a really great environment to do that."

Among those players to take their game to another level in Canberra is Clark's former Waratahs teammate Irae Simone, who earned his maiden Test cap soon after joining the Brumbies.

Clark's journey has taken him on a different path, to a growing competition in the United States that has recently been home to the likes of Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper.

"San Diego, one of their owners is an Australian guy who watches a lot of Super Rugby. Darren [Gardner, a US-based lawyer] got on the phone and I chatted to him, talked about the club they have there," Clark said.

"I just thought it would be a great opportunity, a bit of a change and a chance to play a lot in the midfield and develop that area of my game. I got into some leadership roles.

"Especially after the 2020 year, I didn't see a lot of minutes, it was good to go and play 80 minutes every week and get the body ready. Hopefully I'm ready to step back up to that Super Rugby level."

Clark spent the bulk of his time in San Diego at outside centre, and joins the Brumbies pushing for a place in the centres or on the wing.

"We've watched Cam closely for a while now and we're happy he'll be joining us for at least this season," McKellar said.

"He's a quality player, excellent physical attributes and he's experienced which means he'll come in knowing what's expected at this level.

"One thing we all noticed from his time at the Waratahs was just how hard he plays the game, and after a really good season playing in the US, we think he'll come into our program and push hard for a jersey."

Clark's arrival in Canberra comes as Moana Pasifika - one of two new franchises joining Super Rugby in 2022 - unveil former Brumbies forward Henry Time-Stowers and Canberra product Jack Lam as their newest recruits.

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