Kurtley Beale wikipedia
ContentsCareerYouthBeale signed with the Waratahs while still only a 16-year-old at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. He represented NSW and Australian schoolboys between 2004 and 2006. In 2006 Beale captained both the Joey's first fifteen and the Australian Schoolboys and regularly attended training sessions with the NSW Waratahs from the age of 15. At 17, he attended his first Wallabies training camp, on the invitation of coach John Connolly.SeniorNorthern Suburbs Beale's original senior club was the Northern Suburbs club where he would play alongside then-Waratahs teammates Al Baxter and Sam Norton-Knight.Western Sydney Rams Beale initiated the inaugural season of the Australian Rugby Championship by starting five-eighth for the Rams in every game. Beale was one of the season's leading try scorers and try-assists in the competition. The Rams went on to become minor premiers in 2007 thanks to the contribution of Beale and others including Tatafu Polota-Nau, Chris Siale and Lachlan Turner. Beale was awarded player of the tournament (2007) in the ARC. Randwick In June 2013, Beale was named to play for Randwick while on leave from the Melbourne Rebels following a spell in rehabiltation for alcohol related issues. He had previoulsy played for Randwick against Gordon in 2010. Super RugbyNew South Wales WaratahsBeale made his Senior NSW debut against ACT in January 2007 in a trial game in Wollongong. He scored the first of his many memorable tries by chipping around the winger and outpacing the fullback to score after coming on from the bench. The game was won by NSW 12–0. Two weeks later, after again coming off the bench, Beale made a late break to assist in the winning try against the Crusaders. Coach Ewen McKenzie had stated that Beale would not be rushed into the starting line up and would instead play second fiddle in his debut year behind Daniel Halangahu. However, it was no more than two weeks later that he made his starting debut against the Sharks at ABSA stadium, South Africa, only to lose 22–9. The following week in only his second start as fly-half, Beale scored one of the most memorable tries of the season by chipping over the first line of defence and stealing the ball out of the fullback's hands to score his first five-pointer in Super 14.[citation needed] Beale became the Waratahs first choice fly-half for the start of the 2008 Super 14 season. He also assumed the goal-kicking duties from Peter Hewat ahead of Lachlan Turner, but Beale's goal kicking was not seen as one of the team's strong points. His defence also became the subject of criticism after the Round 2 loss to the Chiefs as NSW were forced to shift him to blindside wing in defence in order to shore up the midfield. Beale moved to fullback for the 2010 season.[citation needed] In 2011, he received the John Eales Medal, awarded by the Australian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players' Association to their Player of the Year.[citation needed] Melbourne Rebels In April 2011, Beale signed a two-year deal starting in 2012 to play for the Melbourne Rebels. His Rebel team mates would include 2011 Wallabies James O'Connor and Nick Phipps. In May 2012 Beale switched from fullback (15) to fly-half (10) for the clash against the Bulls. The change followed the departure of Rebels fly-half Danny Cipriani to England. With Beale's help, the Rebels put in one of their best performances to date. The next week the Rebels triumphed over the highly ranked Crusaders, with Beale converting two tries (from 3 attempts) and kicking three penalties. Rod Macqueen, former Rebels coach, said that Beale at number 10 brought something special to the Rebels and that he, and similarly O'Connor at inside centre, impacted the shapes the team created on the field. With Beale again at 10, the Rebels narrowly beat the Force a week later in Perth. In 2013, whilst on a tour of South Africa, Beale was sent home along with Cooper Vuna for punching captain Gareth Delve on a team bus after a match. A post to social media by Vuna was subsequently republished on at lease one other blog. Beale agreed to seek counselling for his alcohol related issues. He rejoined the squad and played off the bench against the Chiefs but was again suspended before the Rebels were to play the Blues in Auckland, New Zealand. In July 2013, the Rebels dropped Beale from the squad. Return to the New South Wales Waratahs After two seasons with the Melbourne Rebels, in August 2013, Beale signed with the Waratahs and ARU until the end of 2014. AustraliaBeale made his Australia A debut in the 2007 Pacific Nations Cup. He scored his first try in a 27–15 defeat of Samoa. Soon after, Beale narrowly missed out on selection for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the selectors opting for Queensland Reds fly-half Berrick Barnes. Wallabies coach John Connolly selected Barnes over Beale due to his ability to adapt to the national team's conservative game plan and their narrow attack patterns.[citation needed]Beale's Australian Test debut was made at the end of the 2009 Tour of the Home Nations when he appeared on the wing as a substitute in the 34–12 Wallabies victory over Wales. He made a number of mid-week match appearances on the Tour at fly-half.[citation needed] 2010 was a groundbreaking year for Beale in terms of his international career. He started the test season scoring two tries against Fiji and finished the year with a respectable record of seven tries from 12 tests. 2011 saw a further rise in form and recognition with Beale being nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year Award. He even received the John Eales Medal, awarded by the Australian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players' Association to their Player of the Year.[citation needed] He was named as part of the Australia squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and was favoured as the starting fullback whenever he was fit to play. However, he missed the Wallabies semi-final against the All Blacks due to a hamstring injury suffered in the previous game against South Africa.[citation needed] In 2012, he played full-back for the third Test against Wales and three games of the 2012 Rugby Championship against the All Blacks (at ANZ Stadium, Sydney and Eden Park, Auckland) and Springboks (at Patersons Stadium, Perth). After his poor performances at Fullback, the following week he was benched for the game against Argentina at Skilled Park, Gold Coast. Following a knee injury to Quade Cooper, coach Robbie Deans shifted him from fullback to fly-half. He played fly-half in the Wallabies loss to the Springboks in Pretoria. The following week, he was selected again at fly-half against Argentina at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito in Rosario, setting up a try for Digby Ioane. He played fly-half in the 18-all draw against the All Blacks in the third Bledisloe Cup Test at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium; kicking two penalty goals successfully.[citation needed] He played fly-half for the Wallabies in all of the games on their 2012 Europe Spring Tour.[citation needed] In the final game of the Spring Tour against Wales held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and Nathan Sharpe's last Test game for the Wallabies, Beale kicked three penalty goals and scored the match-winning try. In 2013, following a time in rehabilitation with personal and alcohol related issues, Beale was selected to play for Australia against the British and Irish Lions. Shortly before full-time in the first Test, Beale slipped (and missed) while attempting to kick a penalty that would have won the game for the Wallabies. The Lions won 23–21. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
