MELBOURNE: Benched back Kurtley Beale did a good job at flyhalf in Australia’s first two tests of the Rugby Championship given he had not played the position all year, according to his replacement Bernard Foley.
Australia coach Ewen McKenzie demoted Beale and his halfback partner Nic White from the starting side named yesterday in favour of the New South Wales Waratahs’ duo of Foley and Nick Phipps for the Saturday’s clash against South Africa in Perth.
That Beale was promoted to the position at all before the four-nation tournament was a mystery to many in Australia, with Foley having acquitted himself well in the number 10 shirt during the Wallabies’ 3-0 sweep of France in June.
From the reserves bench, Foley and Phipps watched Beale and scrumhalf White struggle to exert their influence in both the drawn 12-12 test in Sydney and the 51-20 thrashing by the All Blacks in the return match at Eden Park last month. Though the horse had well and truly bolted by the time they came on at Eden Park, Foley and Phipps brought an energy and purpose to the Wallabies’ second half that had been sorely lacking earlier.
Too much of a team man to say a word against Beale’s turn at flyhalf, a performance largely condemned by Australian media, Foley conceded the experiment had not worked.
“I thought KB (Beale) did quite a good job those couple of games. For a person who hadn’t played 10 all year to step up and call the plays I think he did very well,” Foley told reporters.
Reuters
