Beale and Chisholm into Wallaby squad

[RugbyReg]

Did KB (Kurtley Beale) play on the weekend? Both players' first game back? Still, I'm happy to have them both there.

The Qantas Wallabies will be without their skipper, Stirling Mortlock, for the remainder of the Bundaberg Rum Tri Nations series.

An MRI scan today has confirmed that the 32-year-old will require an arthroscopy after suffering a lateral cartilage (meniscus) tear in his left knee during last Saturday night’s 17-29 loss to South Africa at Cape Town.

Mortlock sustained the injury 30 minutes into the match and left the field immediately.

He is booked to undergo the procedure, which is also known as keyhole surgery, tomorrow, and is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

This will rule out a return to playing duties at Test level prior to the start of the Qantas Wallabies’ Spring Tour at the end of October. Mortlock was featuring in his 80th Test last weekend at Newlands.

Fellow Tri Nation’s squad member, utility forward Peter Kimlin, is also expected to be out of action for up to six weeks due to an axillary nerve injury in his right shoulder, which was sustained on the recent Brumbies development tour of Europe.

Kimlin, who was capped earlier this year during the two Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series Tests against Italy, is scheduled to undergo an MRI scan tomorrow, which will be followed by additional nerve conduction studies.

The injuries have necessitated a call for reinforcement, with Brumbies lock Mark Chisholm and the NSW Waratahs back Kurtley Beale being added to the Qantas Wallabies Tri Nations squad when it reassembles in Sydney on Thursday.

Chisholm, who played the most recent of his 40 Tests against Wales during last season’s Spring Tour, had his comeback match for Randwick last weekend, after having been sidelined since early April following the broken wrist he sustained while playing against the Cheetahs at Bloemfontein.

The uncapped Beale appeared in 12 of the Waratahs’ 13 matches during the recent Investec Super 14, in what was his third season at that level.

An Australian Schoolboys representative for three consecutive seasons, the 20-year-old this year underlined his versatility by functioning at both flyhalf and inside centre for the Waratahs, before switching to fullback for Australia while attending the Under-20 IRB World Cup in Japan during June.

Seven members of the Qantas Wallabies’ Tri Nations squad will released for club rugby duties this weekend.

They are Beale (Northern Suburbs, NSW), Peter Hynes (GPS, Queensland), Pek Cowan (Warringah, NSW), Phil Waugh (Sydney University, NSW), Matt Hodgson (Eastern Suburbs, NSW), Quade Cooper (Souths, Queensland) and Ryan Cross (Eastern Suburbs, NSW).

The Qantas Wallabies’ next match is Saturday week’s second Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

 

[fatprop]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Great for Kurtley, tough on Quade.

 

[GC]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Why is it tough on Quade? He's still in the squad.

I'd prefer to have seen Smith or Lealifano (if he has recovered from his injury) than Beale.

Chisholm is OK I guess.

 

[Cutter]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Lealifano has been playing on the Brumbies tour.

Surprised Beale has been added. Chisolm was a formality once Kimlin was out and given Caldwell's absence. I would be surprised to see Chisolm make the match day squad until he has had a bit more game time.

 

[Lee Grant]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

As I said on the Waratahs thread: I saw Kurtley at the Penrith v Dragons match last Friday night and he looked fat, like another Lloyd Walker, and baggy around the jowls.

I don't think it was my eyes playing tricks as my son saw him too and agreed he looked out of shape. He's in for a torrid time.

 

[fatprop]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Great to see Chisolm back, he was very good on the Nov tour, direct and hardworking.

 

[Lee Grant]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Yeah he was good on the EOYT and surprised many people who didn't rate him such as ...cough, cough ... yours truly.

If our earlier assessments were correct it just goes to show that we shouldn't be locked into positions on players for all time. They can step up - and they can step down also.

 

[Moses]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Fair to say most of that is down to Friend and Finnegan. Maybe we should set up a national locking school in Canberra

Brumbies and Wallabies lock Mark Chisholm is ready for the new Super 14 season after a frank discussion with Brumbies' coaches Andy Friend and Owen Finegan helped him to rediscover his form during the latter stages of last season.

Chisholm, 27, has 40 caps for the Wallabies but found himself out-of-form and out of the international picture before Friend and Finegan helped to change his role in the game.

''The chat I had with those guys, I admit it hurts, for sure because it was blunt, real blunt, especially with Owen and his assessment,'' Chisholm told The Canberra Times. ''I finished playing with Owen a few years ago but it's reassuring he can be so honest and up front about things like that. There was no sugar-coating, trust me.

''I had to take it on the chin and work up from there. I'd like to think I've stepped up as I needed to.''

Chisholm viewed his role for the side as being a ball-carrier, willing to put in the yards around the field. What his coaches wanted from him however was an increased physical presence at the breakdown, hitting as many rucks as possible.

''I initially saw myself as a ball-running forward but they saw things differently," he said. "Every chance I get I put my hand up to run the ball I don't shy away from that but they wanted me to have more emphasis on winning the breakdown, which I think I've done.

''I got back into the Wallabies squad so that was a good start.''

Friend was quick to praise Chisholm's attitude after their discussion, and is pleased with the results that were evident on-field.

''I asked him what he thought a second-rower should be doing,'' Friend said. ''We were similar in the fact he's got to win his scrum and lineout but a little dissimilar that he wanted to run the football, as I'd much prefer a second-rower to be cleaning rucks out.

''To his credit he changed his style, he got in and did the harder stuff. That doesn't mean he can't run with the footy, you still saw him run an 80m try in against Wales so if he's going into a ruck and the ball pops up, by all means run but let's use his bulk and use his physicality and make himself legally damage opposition.

Friend still wants to see further improvement from Chisholm before the Brumbies' Super 14 campaign kicks off against the Highlanders in Dunedin on February 13.

''I thought his fitness wasn't up to it then and I still think he needs to work on his fitness and just altering what he's trying to achieve out there,'' Friend said. ''He's a senior Super rugby player as well as being a Wallaby so he's somebody who is very much a key to this team.''

http://www.scrum.com/super14/rugby/story/89387.html

 

[louie]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Chisholm being in his great. gives deans options.

i think Christian L deserves it more then Beale. maybe even matt t.

 

[Lee Grant]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

I think that Beale may have earned a spot because of his ability to play 12 (at the end of the Super14) and fullback (with the Oz U/20 team and North Sydney - they must have had someone watching last Saturday). Since Cooper made the EOYT last year and Beale was in better form in the 2008 S14 than Cooper IMO, I thought in hindsight that Beale would have made the EOYT instead of Cooper, but for his injury.

Maybe the Wallabies coaches can teach him how to tackle - there were some good signs in the RSA in May. Anyway it will be a god environment for him provided he doesn't get sent home for being too fat.

Yeah - that was a good article about Chisholm before this year's Super14 and I remember reading it and giving it a heap of mental ticks. The thing is though: I saw him play against the Rats in a knockout semi nearly a year ago and he didn't show any of the form that he showed a few months later on the EOYT.

Perhaps it was just a crook game - it happens. Good to have you back Chiz - hope you take up from where you left off on the EOYT.

PS - It's bloody funny reading about Finegan's input about hitting rucks. He was one of the laziest bastards in the Wallabies which is why they played him so much from the bench.

 

[Gagger]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Tyrone definitely would have seemed more of a logical swap for Morty to me. He's obviously no where near Deans' radar for some reason.

 

[TOCC]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

i think Beale was the right choice, i just dont like watching Tyrone play, his a good player but his not a test player IMO.

Beale at least has the potential to be a good test player, i dont think he is there yet but hopefully deans can do similar work with what he has done with JOC (James O'Connor) and Cooper

 

[the gambler]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

I would have gone for Smith but dont see either making the 22. Perhaps this is just a way of keeping an eye on Beale's weight so they can still consider him for EOYT

 

[fatprop]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Tyrone definitely would have seemed more of a logical swap for Morty to me. He's obviously no where near Deans' radar for some reason.

Deans has made it clear by his selections that he isn't interested in crash ball 12s.

It appears he wants to go around teams, a crash ball 12 takes the width out of the side.

 

[RugbyReg]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

He's played Morty and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) there though. Neither are known for the width they bring to a game.

 

[Cutter]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Smith has more to his game than just a crash ball. I'm beginning to worry Deans obsession with a 2nd 5/8 type player is obscuring the fact that Beale was barely holding his spot in the Waratahs starting line up at times this season whereas Smith was picked in the centres ahead of Mortlock. Is Gene Fairbanks injured? I would pick him ahead of Beale too.

 

[louie]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

again Lealifano

 

[Lindommer]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Once again Deans shows his hand: he's building a squad for RWC2011 and is backing himself to develop players who'll be ready by then. The only rider to this statement is the unavailability of various players due to injury, Caldwell for one.

Kurtley's had a gifted run in rugby, hasn't he? I've seen him play only a little less than Lee and can honestly say he seemed to fit into the category of gifted schoolboy player who didn't adjust to men's rugby, Playford's a perfect example. To be brutally honest he hasn't found his best spot in senior rugby nor cemented a starting position for the Tahs. And don't start me about his tackling! This is a priceless opportunity for him; I hope for the sake of Australian rugby he grabs it with both hands and shows a massive improvement in both his fitness and defence.

 

[cheezel]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

Why have another inside back? Gits, Barnes, O'Connor and Cooper can all cover 10 and 12 whereas we only have Cross and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) covering 13.

 

[fatprop]

Re: Beale and Chisolm into Wallaby squad

He's played Morty and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) there though. Neither are known for the width they bring to a game.

Agreed, as a last resort, but if he has other options he won't