Kurtley Beale played the second half of the Waratahs — Crusaders trial match at the SFS and looked instantly at home in this level of play.
Two initial impressions: first, he is a big 18-year old at 1.84 cms and 90 kgs compared with the budding NZ super-star five-eighths he marked – Stephen Brett – who looked and was smaller in comparision at 1.85 cms and 85kgs. Second, he has been brilliantly coached by Brother Anthoy Boyd at the famed St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill.
Beale plays within himself, does the hard work of tackling and taking a tackle efficiently and does not overplay his hand. I counted fifteen touches and interventions Beale had in his 40-minute stint. And allowing for the fact that most of the time the Waratahs were defending inside their 22, he made very few errors. And the value of this correct aspect of his play is that he is a player who does try to make things happen for his side. A natural and valuable playmaker, in other words.
His passing was very good with smart cut-out and neat pop-ups for players making an inside cut. He overdid the chip kick in his first couple of touches. The rule about chip-kicks is the same as that for putting the other side into bat, think about it and then never do it. He took some knocks but always presented the ball well for the ensuing ruck. He missed one tackle badly when Andrew Ellis brushed him aside and galloped away for a try.
But aside from this miss, he was good in the tackle, racing back at one time to cut down a Crusader’s centre who had made a long break. He took a bad knock at the end of the match. From the next scrum he raced past Brett and the Crusaders’ backrow, ran 30 metres to put Josh Holmes away for the winning stry. Holmes a youngster who is big and fast and plays in the Nick Farr-Jones manner will make a good foil for Beale. The Holmes-Beale halves combination will become a force for the Waratahs by the end of the Super 14 season.
Is Kurtley Beale a potential star? Robbie Deans, the Crusaders coach, was impressed enough to call him ‘an excitement machine’. For me, on a first viewing of his play at the senior level, all the hype about his potential is right on the money. He’s the Real Beale.
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