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‘Humbled’ Kurtley Beale chuffed to be back in the Wallabies mix
By AAP
Kurtley Beale is ready to play anywhere in the Wallabies backline after confessing to shedding a tear at his unexpected recall after almost four years in the international wilderness.
Beale was at the playground with his toddler son when he learnt that Joe Schmidt had included him in his first Wallabies squad since replacing Eddie Jones as coach.
The 35-year-old says he was overcome, having sat out the entire 2023 season before being cleared of sexual assault charges and offered a career lifeline by the Western Force in April.
"I'm humbled. Yeah, a lot of emotions there," Beale said from the Wallabies camp in Brisbane on Monday.
"I'm just super excited to be amongst the guys again and really excited for the opportunity ahead. It's been a while now but I'm ready to rip in."
Beale, who debuted for Australia way back in 2008 but last played after answering an SOS call to join the 2021 spring tour of Europe as injury cover, said he never stopped believing during the dark times that he could make it back.
"Although you'd think at the time it's a long shot, I always had a lot of self belief," he said.
"A lot of training on my own just allowed me to put myself in the best spot mentally and physically and having the right people around me as well really helped."
The 95-cap veteran says the chance to join the exclusive 100-Test club and face the touring British and Irish Lions next year remain huge drivers.
"It's a huge milestone within the game and you can almost dedicate everything to the game coming straight from school," Beale said.
"It's been a part of my life like forever now. So these are little things that are huge motivators for me.
"It allows me to have that real purpose and it allows me to get up and go to training every day with a real strong purpose and intent to be able to go out there and go for gold."
A fullback when he was shortlisted for the 2010 world player of the year award, Beale has also played wing, centre and five-eighth for Australia.
He said he'd happily slot in anywhere against Wales in the Wallabies' season opener in Sydney on July 6.
"It's not going to be given to me and I understand that," he said of earning a 96th cap.
"The exciting thing is being able to test yourself against some of the best up-and-coming players in the country."
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Latest Comments
I understand, but England 30 years ago were a set piece focused kick heavy team not big on using backs.
Same as now.
South African sides from any period will have a big bunch of forwards smashing it up and a first five booting everything in their own half.
NZ until recently rarely if ever scrummed for penalties; the scrum is to attack from, broken play, not structured is what we’re after.
Same as now.
These are ways of playing very ingrained into the culture.
If you were in an English club team and were off to Fiji for a game against a club team you’d never heard of and had no footage of, how would you prepare?
For a forward dominated grind or would you assume they will throw the ball about because they are Fijian?
A Fiji way. An English way.
An Australian way depends on who you’ve scraped together that hasn’t been picked off by AFL or NRL, and that changes from generation to generation a lot of the time.
Actually, maybe that is their style. In fact, yes they have a style.
Nevermind. Fuggit I’ve typed it all out now.
Go to commentsSouth African teams need to start prioritising the Champions Cup for sure. They need to use depth in the URC.
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