At the time, there were many posts by Tahs' fans here lauding the fact that Beale had been selected at 10 against the ABs, and pointing to the (perceived) fact that he had indeed played first receiver for much of the Tahs' successful run to the S15 title. Many posts (maybe from the same few posters) actually thought he was a better option than Foley.
Never, in my wildest nightmares, did I think Beale deserved to play 10 for the Wallabies and never did I think he was a better 10 that Foley in a team sense as well as in individual skills. I was hyper critical of Link at the time for making the change and I raised the issue that he was painting himself into a corner from which he couldn't extricate himself if the gamble in Bledisloe 1 went sour, as it did. No way was he going to be able to revert to Foley at 10 for Bledisloe 2 without having so much egg on his face that he would have lost a whole heap of credibility. So Link certainly brought some of the shit on himself simply through his poor selections concerning Beale. But until there is evidence that he was involved in some sort of cover up of the text messages and images, then it is misplaced to say the least to be calling for his head. At the moment, Beale is the one in the gun sights, and rightly so for his behaviours.
You like to paint in broad strokes, going on the vibe of how you recall things.
I just went through the 1st Bledisloe thread and the announcement of Beale at 10. To whit:-
Pfitzy (Tahs) - in favour of Phipps / Beale at some time against Arg or SA
KOB (Tahs) wanted him on the wing
Braveheart (Tahs) conceded he played 1st receiver a lot so maybe it made sense - closest I could find to a Tahs fanboi on the thread!!
Inside Shoulder (Tahs) - NO
a mutterer (Tahs) - uneasy about it
Cyclopath - not confident
Seb V (brumbies) - maybe OK
TWAS (Qld) - not a fan but probably "not a disaster"
Fatprop (Tahs ) - "Faark!"
disco (Qld) - liked it
BDA (Qld) - a bit meh
Barbarian (Tahs) - not convinced and why wasn't he tried against the French if this was the plan
and so on.........
So no, there were not "many posts by Tahs' fans lauding it". It was mostly met with disagreement and questioning, with a few ambivalent and very few opinions outright in favour of it. And most of those were not Tahs fans.