Folau exit opens doors

ISRAEL Folau’s shock no-tour call will create exciting new roles for Kurtley Beale and Karmichael Hunt to show the Wallabies can win without their No.1 weapon.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika persuasively pushed Folau’s three-month break as a win for balanced life and other players stepping up to take responsibility.

“He’s been under the microscope every single day since he’s come to rugby,” Cheika said of the champion fullback.

“It’ll be a chance for him to get out of that for a moment and rest his body, rest his mind, take a well-earned breather.

“It will make him a better player when he comes back to Super Rugby next year and it will help us make sure we have good plans without him.

“It’s not a bombshell. It’s a positive with getting other players to take responsibility.” It’s a mature call from Folau

bypass the tour Tests to against Japan, Wales, England and Scotland after playing the Barbarians at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

He has given up the $1 million-plus deal he could have brokered for an off-season in Japan on his flexible deal with the Australian Rugby Union.

Instead, it is more important for him to refresh with a break and live some normal life, at 28, with his Aucklandbased fiancee Maria Tutaia, the Kiwi netball star.

Folau has been a constant for 62 Tests across five years as well as going non-stop for the Waratahs and as the code’s one-man promotional show.

It is a fine sign of the depth developed by Cheika that he has multiple replacement options after this surprise postscript to the rousing 23-18 overthrow of the All Blacks last Saturday night.

It opens a huge chance for Hunt, who was omitted from the Suncorp Stadium thriller to build fitness with 80 minutes for Brisbane City in the wet.

The shrewdest juggle for the tour may be to slot Hunt’s starchy game into inside centre, switch Beale to fullback and keep Reece Hodge, a third fullback option, on the wing.

Beale gave a glimpse in Brisbane because he had dropped back to second fullback for the kick catch and dash that started the Wallabies’ superb 75m raid for the crucial Folau try on halftime.

However, Folau leaves a void after running 15 times for 122m against New Zealand.