Wallabies veteran Kurtley Beale has been named to start at full back against Wales on Saturday for the finale of the Autumn Nations Series in Cardiff.
The 32-year-old has 94 caps to his name and produced some epic moments against Wales over the past decade while his experience could prove crucial for the Wallabies attack this weekend.
Back in 2012 Beale scored an unbelievable match-winning try at the Principality Stadium in the final minute of the game to crush Welsh hearts.
Beale’s other moment of brilliance came five years later when he stripped Wales winger Steff Evans and ran 50 metres to score under the posts, completely silencing the 75,000 fans in Cardiff.
Wales were chasing the game in the second half but Beale’s clever defensive play shocked the crowd and after scoring under the posts he attempted a quick conversion to prevent the TMO from taking a closer look at the try.
However despite undergoing a full inspection by the game’s officials the try still stood and helped the Wallabies to a 21-29 win.
Beale was called up to the Wallabies squad two weeks ago following injuries to Tom Banks and Reece Hodge and the full back was excited about the surprising news.
“I can’t tell you how great it feels. It’s surreal,” said Beale. “It was a bit of a surprise call up. I have been following the group from afar, watching their progression over the last couple of years.
“Obviously Banksy and Hodgey have been doing a fine job at fullback. It’s unfortunate they’ve been injured and I guess the boys needed some help in that position, so they gave me a call. I’m super stoked. I didn’t really see it coming. I’m really, really excited to be a part of it.”
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