Kurtley Beale continued to give Australia coach Robbie Deans a selection headache with another controlled performance at flyhalf, kicking the game-winning penalty from the sideline as the Melbourne Rebels beat the Western Force 32-31 in their Super Rugby clash in Perth yesterday.
Beale, who has principally played at fullback for the Wallabies, slotted into the pivotal role at flyhalf after Danny Cipriani was released from his contract last month.
The Rebels backline responded, operating with more direction and purpose since the 23-year-old Beale took the No. 10 jersey with his deft passing, linebreaking ability and tactical kicking keeping them going forward.
With Queensland’s Quade Cooper only returning on Saturday from a serious knee injury and Rebels utility James O’Connor recovering from a lacerated liver, Beale’s form is putting pressure on Deans to pick him in the position for their tests against Scotland and Wales next month.
Yesterday, Beale again proved to be the fulcrum of the Rebels’ attack as they scored four tries in the first half, two to lock Cadeyrn Neville, and continued their momentum from their 28-19 upset win over the Canterbury Crusaders last week.
The Force, who had lost their previous five games, also played their part in providing a spectacle of high-tempo running rugby in extremely warm conditions, with first-half tries to Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga and No. 8 Ben McCalman.
The visitors went in at halftime with a 26-15 lead that was reduced shortly after the break when Force replacement winger Alfie Maafi jinked his way through porous defense.
Force scrumhalf Brett Sheehan then slotted a penalty from about halfway to bring the score to 26-25, though Beale extended the gap again with his first penalty as the standard of the match degenerated through poor handling and decisionmaking.
Force flyhalf Ben Seymour then added two further penalties to give the Force a 31-29 lead with six minutes remaining before Beale struck his second penalty with three minutes left to seal the win.
“It was a really good performance in that first half,” Rebels captain Gareth Delve said in a pitchside interview. “We looked really good in attack, but the second half, we are really disappointed. They came back at us and it was pretty tense in the end.”
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS