Veteran fullback and new Western Force recruit Kurtley Beale has revealed his desire to return to the international stage after spending a year sidelined.
Found not guilty of sexual assault earlier this year, Beale made his return to the pitch via Sydney's Shute Shield club Randwick before he was named as an injury replacement player for the Force last week.
In his first press conference since his move to Perth, the 36-year-old spoke of his Wallabies ambitions after he was stood down from all forms of the game and missed his chance of reaching a fourth World Cup last year.
"I had one brief chat [with Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt]. Look, he's got a busy job at the moment in terms of settling in himself," Beale said.
"But basically he just wanted to see me play some rugby... hopefully I'll be able to put in some consistent performances for the selectors to be able to look at.
"I feel like I've got a lot to add to the game. I had a year off last year and it was a great opportunity to really focus on my physical being, my mental well-being.
"I trained all that time for this moment now and again I'm very thankful for the opportunity here and I'm just really excited for the challenge ahead.
"I'm hoping that I'll be able to kind of go back to the level of playing that I'm used to and hopefully progress, keep growing as a player."
Joining the squad earlier this week, Beale has hit the ground running with the 95-Test capped star tasked with helping turn around a club that is currently languishing at the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific table.
"Quite a young group, young guys aspiring to be rugby players over here who don't really get that much opportunity to interact with international players," Beale said of his teammates.
"I guess part of my job being here is also helping those young guys come through and help them with the little areas of their game to be able to take it to the next level, and I'm really excited about that."
FOOTE LEFT FUMING BY REDUCED BAN
Melbourne Rebels coach Kevin Foote was left questioning the consistency of the Super Rugby judiciary after Fijian Drua forward Jone Koroiduadua was handed just a two-week suspension for a headbutt on Rebels hooker Alex Mafi last week.
Two red cards were handed out through the fiery clash last Friday with Drua halfback Frank Lomani also seeing red for an elbow strike to the back of Josh Canham's head.
Both players pleaded guilty to Law 9.2 - a player must not physically abuse anyone - which can see a player receive bans of up to and over 10 weeks, but the Super Rugby Pacific Foul Play Review Committee handed down two reduced sanctions with Lomani given six weeks and Koroiduadua given just two.
In a statement the FRPC determined the prop's actions were at the "low end" of the scale with an entry point of just six weeks, significantly reducing his sanction.
"The FPRC deemed the act of foul play merited a low-end entry point of six weeks... the player's head appears to have made limited contact with the head of the victim player and rather made contact with the chest area of the victim player. There is also no injury to the victim player," FPRC chairman Stephen Hardy said.
Koroiduadua's six-week suspension was halved because he pleaded guilty, and then reduced by a further week as the FPRC determined the sanction would be "disproportionate to the level and type of offending involved."
Foote was bewildered by the decision.
"There is intent there, whether he lands it or not is irrelevant," Foote said. "If Mafi has his head forward at that stage and he hits him, does that make it worse?
"That is malicious. My understanding is if you make any contact with the head, we have been told that is top, top, top suspension. And he gets two weeks. He [Koroiduadua] was on a mission. There was a late hit on Carter [Gordon] and there was something with Ryan [Louwrens] just before that. But then to obviously headbutt on top of that, I mean come on."
Foote also questioned how former Rebels back Reece Hodge could be handed the same suspension reduced to one-game after getting two yellow cards in a game and being red carded in 2022.
"How does Hodgey get a red card after a team foul and yellow foul, and it's two weeks, and that [headbutt] gets two weeks? It doesn't make any sense," Foote said.
WALLABY SUGGESTS RADICAL POSITION CHANGE TO SAVE BELL'S CAREER
Wallabies and Waratahs prop Angus Bell has been ruled out of the remainder of the Super Rugby Pacific season after he reaggravated a previous toe injury that saw him sidelined last year.
It's the third time the 23-year-old has sustained the same injury and according to the Waratahs he's currently meeting with surgeons in Brisbane for advice on potential foot surgery to help remodel his foot and alleviate the pressure on his toe.
However, former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles has floated another idea that could help reduce the pressure on his foot and potentially add to the longevity of Bell's career. Speaking on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts show during the week Hoiles suggested Bell make the move from the front row to the back-row.
"I heard a bit of talk that they have to go and have a look at how they fix this toe long-term," Hoiles said. "He puts a lot of pressure on the injury he has got [from] scrummaging.
"Is there a thought process that he might not be able to play prop? He's good enough to play other positions. That is something that is going to need to be considered now.
"I'm not speaking out of school here. This is his third time he's injured that same toe. He's gone and had part of it removed the second time around. They've removed a part of the body, so he doesn't have the injury that occurred on the weekend. It's quite an unusual one."
According to Wallabies and Waratahs teammate and fellow forward Jed Holloway, Bell would have no issues making the transition.
"If that was a worst-case scenario and that was something he was weighing up, he'd be a world-class back-rower," Holloway said.
"He could even jump into the second-row. He'd probably need to lose about 10kilos, but he's got the body shape for it. It might make him look a little bit better, which he'd probably love.
"I know how much he loves scrums, so he's probably be the first to tell you to stick it somewhere. You could probably put him on the wing. He runs faster than half our backs anyway. Scrumming doesn't define how good he is as a rugby player. He's super talented.
"It's tough for Gus. He's had a rough trot with that foot. He's in seeing the specialists, but he's a massive part of our team. We definitely feel for him."
FOSTER BACK ON THE COACHING SCENE
They failed to take home the World Cup last year at home, but France will be hoping to make a statement when they take on a World XV team led by former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster in June.
Downing Foster and his All Blacks in the World Cup opener in Paris last year, France will be eyeing a repeat performance, but will have to do it without some of their top stars.
Scheduled for a June 22 kickoff, the match coincides with the French Top 14 finals series, meaning France coach Fabien Galthie will be unable to select some of his top players.
In a surprising twist, the match will be played in Bilbao in Spain at San Mames Stadium which hosted the European Rugby Champions Cup Final in 2018.
"It's a fantastic opportunity to be asked to coach this World XV and an incredible opportunity in the life of a coach," Foster said. "Facing the French XV in Basque Country, we will certainly have the ambition to play an attacking brand of rugby with plenty of tries to entertain the French, Spanish and Basque supporters."
Maxime Machenaud (Bayonne & France), Camille Lopez (Bayonne & France), Mako Vunipola (Saracens & England), Semi Radradra (Lyon & Fiji), Billy Vunipola (Saracens & England), Tevita Tatafu (Bayonne) are already confirmed to play in the World XV squad.
REES-ZAMMIT'S WILD START TO NFL CAREER
Former Wales wing turned NFL player, Louis Rees-Zammit has revealed how welcoming his now teammates have been at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Announcing he was quitting rugby to follow his dream to play in the NFL, Rees-Zammit has undertaken a whirlwind adventure that saw him spend 10-weeks in an intensive training cap before he was eventually signed by Super Bowl champions the Chiefs.
Signing a three-year contract, the former flyer joins the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, who he revealed have already reached out to welcome him to the team.
"Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce messaged me, just saying 'welcome to KC' and that if I ever needed anything to let them know," he told The Rugby Pod.
Although he's already accomplished the first part of his dream, there's still plenty of work ahead including learning and adapting to a different ball game.
"They're such a professional organization. That was the kind of feeling I went in there with and they just blew me away.
"You've got to learn, over a season, probably 1,000 plays. You're going into a game with 80 plays. I mean in rugby you've got, what, five scrum attacks, five lineout attacks, so it's a lot of revision time.
"I'm going to go train with Pat and the receivers, and it's going to be an amazing experience. There's no one better to learn from than the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and [head coach] Andy Reid."
