Kurtley Beale: Wallabies' new 10?
The Wallabies left for South Africa on Thursday with coach Robbie Deans keeping the identity of his new fly-half for next week's Test a secret.
Deans has had to find a replacement for injured number 10 Quade Cooper but was giving little away at the team's departure as to whether it was Berrick Barnes or Kurtley Beale.
The Wallabies are second in the Rugby Championship behind the all-conquering All Blacks ahead of their final two Tests in the series against the Springboks in Pretoria on September 29 and Argentina in Rosario on October 7.
Deans said he had decided on a new playmaker after losing Cooper to knee surgery earlier this week but wanted to tell his players first.
"The choices are obvious... we've got Berrick, we've got Kurtley," Deans said at Sydney airport.
"Obviously, it will be one of the above. We've made the decision, we just haven't communicated it yet.
"Our protocol is to talk to the players before we talk to the public."
Barnes, renowned for his reliability, has strong kicking skills more suited for a conservative field position game while regular fullback Beale is a more explosive, ball-running number 10.
Deans said his choice would not be an indication of the style of game he intended to play as the team look to continue their recent dominance over the Springboks. Australia have won seven of the past eight contests.
"I don't think it will make a lot of difference either way," he said.
"As you've seen with the way we structure our game, you'll see both players involved in both roles, so it really doesn't matter."
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
Only Ozzie backs seem able to handle so many reshuffles. This may be one too many. South Africa win.
Posted 11:29 20th September 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
circa 2002 Jonny Wilkinson. What? I thought you wanted to win? ;)
Posted 10:13 20th September 2012
TheTruthHurts says...
I say take a punt with Kurtley, he's played there before for the Waratah's in the past, and if I am not mistaken maybe even one before for the Wallabies as a replacement?
We need to change things up and bring an X factor to one of the play making roles, I know his form hasn't been great but a positional change even for a couple of games might just do the trick... AAC for full back and put Barnes in the centre's, we still need him for the kicking duties....
Posted 10:10 20th September 2012
lele says...
beale, but he's not too much in-form now...
Posted 09:27 20th September 2012
georgesmith says...
K.Beale because B.Barnes is not a player of the future. We need to slowly get him out of the team.
Posted 08:56 20th September 2012
jonesy2 says...
kurtley. chuck him in there and tell him to run the game to get him into form. if he doesnt in the first 50 then make the switch. simple
Posted 08:46 20th September 2012