git clone and checkout in a single command

git clone u://r/l --branch x

still clones everything but sets the local HEAD to that branch so it’s the one checked out.

Source:

–branch <name>

-b <name>

Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed to by the cloned repository’s HEAD, point to <name> branch instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will be checked out. --branch can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit in the resulting repository.