'Super keen': Ex-Wallaby backs Kurtley Beale to make test comeback
Former Wallabies wing Drew Mitchell has backed his former teammate and long-time friend Kurtley Beale to make a return to test rugby.
Mitchell floated Beale’s name as a potential candidate to fill the Australian No 15 jersey after incumbent fullback Tom Banks suffered an arm fracture against the Springboks in Brisbane over a week ago.
Numerous contenders have since shaped up to fill the gap at fullback, with Reece Hodge earning starting honours in Australia’s clash against Argentina in Townsville over the weekend.
However, with another test against Los Pumas and an end-of-year tour of Japan and Europe coming up, others, including veteran playmaker James O’Connor and youngster Jordan Petaia, could all feature in the No 15 jersey over the next two months while Banks is sidelined.
Mitchell has put forward a left-field name in the form of Beale, though, as he said the Racing 92 star could rejoin O’Connor and recently-recalled pivot Quade Cooper in the Wallabies camp in what would be a reunion of the ‘Three Amigos’.
The star trio were the golden boys of the Wallabies between the late 2000s and early 2010s, but they haven’t all played alongside each other for Australia since the 2011 World Cup bronze final victory over Wales in Auckland.
Since then, all three players have endured various off-field issues, which robbed Cooper and O’Connor of many years in the Australian set-up.
In fact, of those three players, Beale appeared to be the only player who could maintain his place in the Wallabies squad as he amassed 92 test caps between 2009 and 2019.
By contrast, Cooper spent four years out of the Wallabies set-up before making a shock return ahead of this year’s Rugby Championship, while O’Connor didn’t play test rugby for six years before returning from England play at the 2019 World Cup.
Both players have shown an immense growth in maturity since their unlikely international comebacks and were named in a Wallabies match day squad alongside each other for the first time since 2013 for last weekend’s win over Los Pumas.
Like most onlookers, the influence of Cooper and O’Connor on the resurgent Wallabies hasn’t gone unnoticed by Mitchell, who wrote on social media that the addition of Beale to the Wallabies would complement the impact of the former two players.
“From my conversations with Kurtley, he is super keen,” Mitchell said, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Townsville Test wasn’t played at the speed the All Blacks wanted. #NZLvRSA #RSAvNZL #RugbyChampionship https://t.co/eJsgNwZad0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2021
“I think there was initial dialogue when Dave [Rennie, Wallabies head coach] came in but he’s got a fair bit on his plate. I don’t know if there has been much in recent times. Kurtley is more than hopeful there are more conversations to be had.
“I spoke to him as regularly as last night [Thursday]. He’s loved every opportunity he’s had to play for the Wallabies and he would love nothing more than to get more of an opportunity.”
Mitchell added that players based abroad who have been called into the squad by Rennie have also made an impact on the current Wallabies side, something of which he feels Beale would also be able to do.
“Overseas [based players] like Quade, [Samu] Kerevi, Izack Rodda … these guys have come in and actually added to the squad. He feels – and I also feel – that he’d be someone who adds to the squad.
“I threw a comment on the Wallabies [Instagram] page. Some of the replies were like ‘oh we’re going back in time … we don’t need Kurtley he’s too old’. Well Quade has come back and Quade [33] is older than Kurtley [32]. He’s got so much more to add to Australian rugby.
“When James came back, when Quade came back, people weren’t convinced until they went out there and performed. It’s almost like if they perform, people forget what those reservations were.”
The possibility of Beale, who has found himself in good form for Racing 92 since relocating to Paris after the most recent World Cup, turning out for the Wallabies may come to fruition on this year’s end-of-year tour.
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper alluded to that as a concept when he spoke to media about the challenges of touring amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I hear Kurtley’s been playing really well up in France,” Hooper said last week.
“We’ve seen with some of the guys that have come back in recent times the value they’ve added. Kurtley, with ball in two hands, is unbelievable.
All Blacks fullback Jordie Barrett has delivered his verdict on George Bridge’s misfortune under the high ball during Saturday’s victory over the Springboks in Townsville. #AllBlacks #Springboks #NZLvRSA100 #RugbyChampionship #TRC2021 https://t.co/H2h051Ldfh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2021
“If there’s appetite there from the coaching staff, I’m sure someone like that can add a huge amount to our team. In a Covid world, anything could happen.”
Regardless of whether Beale does in fact make a shock return to the field for the Wallabies after a two-year absence, Mitchell said the 32-year-old could still offer plenty in an off-field capacity as Australia take on Japan, Scotland, England and Wales.
“If they’re going to be up there, it’s a perfect opportunity for Dave Rennie to bring them in and have a look at them for three weeks of training if nothing else,” Mitchell said.
“Sit down and have genuine conversations around aspirations, so Dave gets an understanding of them as people rather than knowing of them from afar.
“We’ve got to tap into that now so that next year or leading into 2023 there are no more question marks.
“I think these players coming back from overseas are showing they can come back and add to the current group. I’ve obviously been a big advocate of picking your best players.
“I don’t mean you’re going to fill your first XV with players from overseas, they could just be guys who come in and play a role in the squad.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments