'We have a chance': Older head to steer Wallabies to glory?
SPOTLIGHT: Overlooked for his own fairytale recall, Kurtley Beale is applauding the selection of fellow Wallabies veteran James O’Connor to face the British and Irish Lions.
Beale will still get a chance to tackle the tourists, leading a historic First Nations and Pasifika XV that will line up for the first time in Melbourne on July 22.
The 36-year-old has overcome a hamstring twinge that ruled him out of the Western Force clash that opened the Lions tour last month.
After injury to first-choice flyhalf Noah Lolesio, 35-year-old O’Connor, who was part of the 2013 Lions series, was a surprise inclusion almost three years after playing his last Test.
O’Connor was in the thick of action in his first training session; both he and the Wallabies posting a photo on social media that showed stitches to a cut above his eye with blood dripping down his face.
Beale, who also played in the losing campaign 12 years ago, said an experienced head such as O’Connor would add value to the squad and, in particular, to the playmakers in Tom Lynagh and Ben Donaldson.
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“You definitely need, like, a bit of an older head … I feel like there’s value, not just for the two young 10s to bounce ideas off, to compete with, but also for the whole squad in general,” Beale told AAP.
“I know from the past, being in a squad with Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper, two guys that I looked up to in terms of playing the same positions and just bouncing ideas and kind of learning how they craft a game, it’s really important in the background, right?”
Beale watched the Wallabies snatch a last-gasp win over Fiji last Sunday and believed there were enough signs in their first Test of the year to give hope they could topple the classy Lions.
“I think we do have a chance,” he said.
“The Wallabies’ performance against Fiji lacked a little bit of cohesion, the finishing touches, but I thought we created some great opportunities.
“There were a couple of forward passes, and we nail those, and there’s scoreboard pressure, we’re in front, and we start to kind of get into a game plan.
“I’m sure the guys understand that and no doubt they’ll be working really hard to put it all together so that we go out there confident and stick it to the Lions in game one.”
First Nations and Pasifika coach Toutai Kefu has so far unveiled five players – Queensland’s Seru Uru, Waratahs pair Rob Leota and Charlie Gamble and Brumbies speedster Andy Muirhead – and touted Beale as his captain, although the flyhalf said nothing had been made official.
“If that’s the case, what an absolute honour,” said the 95-Test veteran, who still harbours ambitions of adding to that Test tally.
“It’s a huge privilege to be able to represent my culture and represent the team at this level against the Lions.
“After being involved last time, there’s a bit of redemption there …it’d be great to be able to kind of get back and put in a performance that we can all be proud of.”
