Rebel to cast aside friendship as Billy Meakes jostles with idol Kurtley Beale in Super encounter

Billy Meakes had a front-row seat as Kurtley Beale forged an unmatched reputation as schoolboy genius. Now good mates with the Wallabies star, Meakes hopes to upstage the gun Waratah this weekend.

Billy Meakes watched in awe as Kurtley Beale carved a gravity-defying arc from schoolboy genius to Wallabies stardom, eager to emulate the former St Joseph’s prodigy.

Meakes was two years behind Beale at Sydney’s St Joey’s — a prolific nursery of rugby champions — in 2004-06 as the future international conjured miracle after miracle. In 2007, Meakes inherited Beale’s No. 10 jersey.

A dozen years on, as both prepare to clash in Saturday night’s battle between Super Rugby’s top two teams in the Australian conference, Meakes will shelve his friendship for 80 minutes.

The business of helping Melbourne return to the winning list — and post an overdue victory over the NSW Waratahs — will override all else.

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Rebels player Billy Meakes steps through the Sunwolves defence in Melbourne earlier this month.

Melbourne trails NSW 2-13 in the head-to-head tally. The Tahs have won the past four meetings, leaving the Rebels without Weary Dunlop Shield glory since 2016.

Embarrassed by a wasteful 24-41 defeat to the Stormers at AAMI Park last week, Meakes and his teammates are doubly keen to atone — even with Beale in the opposition backs.

“Kurtley was always somebody I looked up to at school, he was a schoolboys’ hero coming up through the ranks,” Meakes said. “I played First XV the year right after he left.

Billy Meakes and Kurtley Beale (above) are both products of Sydney’s St Joey’s — a prolific nursery of rugby champions.

“We’ve become good mates. It’s nice when we go head to head and I enjoy the challenge.

“I’m assuming Kurtley will be involved in the midfield or the backs, so regardless of where he plays we’re certain to come into contact.

“We’ve had some great battles over the years.”

Melbourne’s match review on Monday made for unpleasant reading.

A focus on missed tackles and lost opportunities was overshadowed by the lack of physicality — the antithesis of how coach Dave Wessels wants his team to compete.

“It’s obviously never nice coming in on Monday after a loss,” Meakes said.

Billy Meakes against the Sharks at the Kings Park Stadium in Durban.

With five wins from eight matches, Melbourne leads the Australian conference and sits third overall.

Nothing can be taken for granted, especially against the Tahs, as the Rebels try to avoid a repeat of last season’s fade from playoff contention.

“Obviously we slipped up last week, but every time we’ve had a derby match this year we’ve gone really well,” Meakes said. “We treat them as double points matches.”

Meakes said the Rebels would present a more familiar style on Saturday night.

“Physicality is a huge factor,” he said. “We know if we get that part of the game right, there’s a knock-on effect to the rest of our game.

“The No. 1 thing going into this match is physicality.” 

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Originally published as Rebel to cast aside friendship as Billy Meakes jostles with idol Kurtley Beale in Super encounter