Kurtley Beale is a victim of his own class and experience as the one-time world player of the year nominee continues to bide his time on the Wallabies bench.
Already well aware of what Beale brings to the table, coach Ewen McKenzie says it’s for the greater good of the Wallabies to fast-track Australia’s emerging Test stars for the challenges ahead.
The looming Bledisloe Cup series with the All Blacks and next year’s Rugby World Cup in England are firmly in McKenzie’s sights.
Hence why he’s happy to leave Beale cooling his heels for Australia’s third and final Test against France in Sydney, with NSW Waratahs teammate Bernard Foley retaining the playmaker’s role for Saturday’s match at Allianz Stadium.
Vice-captain Adam Ashley-Cooper, a 93-Test veteran, has more caps than fullback Israel Folau (17), fellow winger Nick Cummins (14), centres Tevita Kuridrani (10) and Matt Toomua (12), five-eighth Foley (6) and halfback Nic White (12) combined.
“If you go and look at the cap listing, you’ll find that apart from Adam Ashley-Cooper there isn’t that much experience in the backline. So we are investing in that,” McKenzie said.
“When you look at the guys on the bench, they’ve got a lot of experience.
“So I guess we know a lot more about those guys and those guys have experienced lots of environments already.
“We need to continue to invest time in the guys that we have picked in the backline, in particular.”
McKenzie said Beale remained integral to the Wallabies.
“KB does a good job changing the nature of the game, particularly late when everyone’s a bit tired,” he said.
“We’ll certainly look to give him more and more time and obviously we don’t have a problem starting him, but we’re happy with what we’ve got.
“So we’re pumping experience in.”
McKenzie said Beale’s selection on the bench was no different to the Wallabies’ second-row situation.
NSW Waratahs lock Will Skelton is the latest to earn a maiden Test start, replacing 2011 World Cup captain James Horwill, after the Brumbies’ Sam Carter received his first cap earlier in the French series and young gun Luke Jones was named on the bench this week.
“We’ve got to make sure we get more more experienced players moving forward to take on some of the challenges we’ve got ahead,” McKenzie said.
Magic Sponge
Guest
Tane name a worst 10 that has played for Australia than Beale in the last 30 years . Australia has had great 10s and Beale has the x factor and that is it. Not what you want in a 10
BilgolaBoy
Guest
Beale has the best short pass since Mark Ella and Mark Ella was the best ever. Yep, his defence is a work in progress but Folau is a better player when he has Beale with him and it should be the job of every Wallaby to get the ball to Folau
Tane Mahuta
Guest
Coopers defence is no better than Beales at international level. On the EOYT last year, Quade missed about 36% of his tackles. On the EOYT in 2012 Beale missed about 15% at flyhalf and made a lot more attempts.
Tane Mahuta
Guest
Was that the person judginging passing ability on one pass out of 5,000,000 It astounds me the hate that Australians generate for their own players. Many of these players are really respected in other countries but Australia seems to love to cut its own players down. Beale, Phipps, Barnes, McCabe, Alexander and lots of other players get picked by multiple national coaches but still, they are just not goood enough. They are very good players and those that doubt it are just missing something.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen NSW
Guest
Ra - Cheers mate. I was going to mention that to him at the time. But standing there in a lovely Bournemouth Pub and especially since he shouted the beers.........I let it slide. ;)
Daniel Manning
Guest
This is the rugby section, and I wasn't talking about the east Europeans who play for Australia. Duuuuuuurp
PeterK
Guest
thats ok, but your maths is poor, it is impossible to give more than 100% :)
Ra
Guest
Good question Daniel. You've just let everyone know you don't know much about rugby, but that's ok. The Soccaroos can hold their heads high, they gave their 120 per cent in their two World Cup matches so far, but I'm not a football purist either.
Ra
Guest
Blinky as you know, the Poms named every Great place here and around their Colonised World.
Ra
Guest
And Folau eh Linz......
Johnno
Guest
What a stupid article. There's better players ahead of him. Folau at 15, Quade at 10 and toomua at 10 or CLL or Foley.
Daniel Manning
Guest
Why is this drunk even allowed in the team after he cost the Lions tour? He was probably intoxicated when he took that kick. lol.
niwdEyaJ
Roar Guru
I'm with linz22... KB does have some x-factor in attack (except when he takes the ball into contact where he gets smashed backwards and turned over far too regularly), but his defense is poor for international level. Wallabies will be much stronger with the Genia/Cooper axis at 9/10 and Toomua/Kuridrani at 12/13... I can see that being our backline for the RWC with JOC and Speight on the wings and Folau at 15... AAC, White and one of McCabe/Horne/Bader on the bench gives us great cover across all spots 9-15... Personally, I'm really enjoying Link's philosophy of building experience in preparation for RWC... he's picking the right time to give emerging talent a shot at Test level and we're getting a really good insight into how these guys will go at Test level...
Denby
Roar Rookie
I like Kurtley as a player but his defence is a problem at international level and his tendency to run sideways. This sideways running takes space from players outside him and when he is hit in the tackle, his momentum is going sides not directly into the tackle so he often gets pushed backwards and turned over. These things can be fixed but for now I feel the bench is a great sport for him.
Hopperdoggy
Guest
Was that the game he didn't pass it to Kurindrani's foot?
Hoy
Roar Guru
I don't think he was ever a great flyhalf, even when he was at the Waratahs mark I. As as a 10, he makes a great League 6. Just shuffle the ball to the next person out, or crab across field trying to create holes for runners, but really just cramp them up... His style at 5/8 just seems to me to suit League better, but that might just be me. Fullback? He struggles to catch high balls, and struggles to tackle anyone who doesn't run straight into him, front on. But he sure can attack with space, I will give that to him.
jameswm
Roar Guru
He did - but the team still stood by him. That tells you something. JOC did a lot less and was an outcast.
jameswm
Roar Guru
How many tries has he created for Folau this year? There's a reason why Folau follows KB around at Super level.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen NSW
Guest
An English mate of mine said that 'you Australians tend to use the word Great far too often'. Great Australian Bight, Great Dividing Range & the list goes on. Maybe KB isn't actually 'great' at all but rather just very good at times. :) Oh and about my Pommy mate. I felt the need to childishly defend Oz & pointed out that since I was visiting him in the lovely UK, I didn't find too much that was great about his Great Britain either. He laughed and we both shared a beer. ;)
Tane Mahuta
Guest
Very good player and at his best he is one of the best in the world. Imo he should have gone to the Force or stayed with the Rebels but his "support structures" were seen as too important and now he is playing out of position and not being given the chance to grow as either a fullback or flyhalf. Could have been a great but instead will be held back and I cant ever see him reaching his potential. Those that say that Beale cant pass must be watching a different game to me.