Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie may shift playmaker Kurtley Beale out of frontline defence

EWEN McKenzie would consider shifting Kurtley Beale out of the frontline defence after positioning the “Quade-like” playmaker as the Wallabies new No. 10.

Kurtley Beale of the Wallabies during the Rugby Union First Test match between Australia and the British and Irish Lions played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Pic Darren England.

EWEN McKenzie said he’d consider shifting Kurtley Beale out of the frontline defence after positioning the “Quade-like” playmaker as the Wallabies new five-eighth for the June Test series.

McKenzie took the covers off his 32-man Wallabies squad to play France yesterday and while a modest group of four new faces — Nathan Charles, Luke Jones, Sam Carter and Will Skelton — didn’t rev up the excitement, intriguing positional brackets did the trick.

Naming Beale and NSW teammate Bernard Foley as the Wallabies’ two five-eighth options to replace the injured Quade Cooper, McKenzie pointedly listed Brumbies No. 10 Matt Toomua as a centre, squashing the widely-held assumption he’d assume the role this winter.

“That’s exactly why I wrote it down like that, so no-one is confused about how I think,” McKenzie said.

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McKenzie has long been an admirer Beale at five-eighth after the then-19-year-old took the Waratahs to within 40 minutes of the 2008 Super Rugby title in the No. 10 jersey.

Six years later the pair are reunited for the first time, and though playing centre for NSW, Beale remains firmly a five-eighth in the Wallabies’ coach’s mind.

“I coached Kurtley Beale as a ten back in the Waratahs days so I know him, I have met with him, I know what he thinks about the game,” McKenzie said.

Beale has been playing inside centre for the Waratahs.

“With Quade before, and I have always talked about Beale as a similar, Quade-like player and Bernard Foley has stepped up as well, so in terms of how we want to go about it and call the shots, that suits us.

“In terms of primary focus, we are really pleased with the work Matt did at 12 for the Wallabies last year.”

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Where Toomua fits nicely as a No. 10 for the deeply-set Brumbies attack, McKenzie is known to prefer a flatter five-eighth combining with the strong running talent of Toomua at centre in Test rugby.

After outstanding form for NSW, Foley remains a backable chance to win the Wallabies hot seat but Beale appears to holds the edge.

Matt Toomua is seen as a centre for the Wallabies.

Beale’s defensive duties remain an issue for McKenzie to consider, however. The 25-year-old lines up on the wing in the Waratahs’ defensive set-up, and just as he did with Cooper at the Reds, McKenzie said he wouldn’t rule out rearranging the Wallaby defensive line for Beale.

“I understand that side of it, by having Kurtley dropping back it brings some different counter-attack opportunities,” McKenzie said.

“I played Quade at fullback and he did the same thing. You watch on turnovers, the likes of Kurtley and Quade, how quickly they arrive and they have the ball in their hands on turnovers. And turnovers are, at the moment, where most tries are scored in a game. They are really important in a game.

“So I don’t close my mind to anything. The reasons why you’d do it, people might get bogged down on the defence side, well you might do it for purely attack-based reasons.

“We want to get out there and play with skill, that’s what we’re about. We will apply intelligence to the task of winning games, not just go out there and say: “We only play the game in one way and that’s all we’re going to do”.

“The fact there are a lot of guys there who can do different things and play different positions, allows a bit of scope.”

Beale in action for the Wallabies against Les Bleus at the Stade de France.

Versatility reigns in McKenzie’s backline selections, and dropping Beale back could enhance the selection chances of defensive strongmen like Rob Horne and Pat McCabe for wing spots.

McKenzie’s forwards contained several new faces, particularly at lock, with Jones, Carter and Skelton called in “to build depth” following decisions of Hugh Pyle and Kane Douglas to play overseas in 2015.

The Force front-row was rewarded for consistent strength with Charles called in for the first time, and Pek Cowan recalled three years after his last Test.

Veteran Benn Robinson was left out, again, but McKenzie tipped the NSW loosehead prop to bounce back, again.

“We have to have a situation where everything is competitive, and loosehead prop is very competitive,” he said.

Inspirational Force flanker Matt Hodgson also won a recall, with Liam Gill only set to return to club rugby this weekend after 7-week hamstring injury.

WALLABIES SQUAD

Backs: Israel Folau, Nick Cummins, Adam Ashley-Cooper; Pat McCabe, Rob Horne, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Leali’ifano, Matt Toomua; Kurtley Beale, Bernard Foley; Will Genia, Nic White, Nick Phipps.

Forwards: Wycliff Palu, Ben McCalman, Scott Higginbotham, Michael Hooper, Matt Hodgson, Scott Fardy; James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, Luke Jones, Sam Carter; Ben Alexander, Sekope Kepu, James Slipper, Scott Sio, Pek Cowan; Stephen Moore, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Nathan Charles.