Beale braced for tough time from his mate Russell
Australians devising a cunning plan to stop Scotland’s playmaker from running the show
The Scots are a class team ...on their day they’re world-beaters
KURTLEY BEALE has probably the best vantage point in world rugby from which to gauge Finn Russell’s contribution to a game: playing alongside him in the Racing 92 back line.
On Sunday, of course, the Australian and the Scot will be on opposing sides at BT Murrayfield, and Beale hopes his first-hand knowledge of Russell’s genius will help his team negate it.
In the first instance, though, as the 32-year-old explained yesterday, it will be down to Wallabies defence coach Matt Taylor to come up with a strategy for stopping Scotland’s playmaker in his tracks. And there, too, personal knowledge will come in useful, as Taylor, like Australia’s head coach Dave Rennie, worked with Russell during his time in Scotland.
Sometimes with a player as unpredictable as Russell it seems that opponents might simply be tempted to expect the unexpected and leave it at that. But yesterday utility back Beale suggested that, between them, the visitors’ coaching team and playing squad would make altogether more sophisticated preparations, with Taylor the one charged with coming up with the blueprint.
“You’ve definitely got to have plans in place,” said the 92cap international, who joined Racing at the start of last season. “And I’m sure Matt will have a good plan – he’s had experience of a lot of the players in the Scottish team from Glasgow and from the Scottish team in the past.
“We’ll wait for that to come out and make sure we’re very diligent with our detail on how we want to play against Scotland. One hundred per cent we need a plan, and once we’ve got that down pat then we go out there and just let it rip and enjoy the occasion.
“The Scots are a class team – on their day they’re worldbeaters. They’ve got some class danger men – Ali Price, Finn and Stuart Hogg. They’ve just come off the Lions tour and had a positive impact there, so no doubt they’ll be running the show on the weekend.”
Russell and Price certainly ended up running the show when the teams last met four years ago in another Autumn International at Murrayfield. The home side suffered a setback in the warm-up when Hogg picked up an injury and had to pull out, but they shrugged off that blow and competed on even terms throughout the first half, taking a narrow lead just before the interval, within a minute or so of Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu being sent off for
a shoulder charge to Hamish Watson’s head.
Scotland then ran riot, adding six tries to the two they had scored in the first half to claim a memorable 53-24 victory – a record winning margin for the fixture.
“You never like losing by a big margin,” Beale said. “I thought we were right in that game up until maybe the 60th minute. It’s always difficult playing down a man at international level, especially when you’ve got a miracle 10 like Finn Russell, who loves to attack where there’s space. And in that game there was a lot of space.”
Having not featured in a national squad since the last World Cup in 2019, Beale was a surprise call-up by Rennie for the Australians’ tour to Europe, which will take in trips to Twickenham and Cardiff over the following two weekends. Although he can play in most positions in the back division, injuries to Tom Banks and Reece Hodge have left a vacancy at full-back, and he looks set either to start there or to come off the bench as part of a second-half reshuffle on Sunday.
But, for all that Beale may owe his place to injuries, there is little doubt that he still has a lot to offer, having got back to his best since joining Racing at the start of last season. Which brings us to another Russell connection, because the Australian believes the stand-off deserves some of the credit not only for helping him rediscover top form, he also for attracting him to sign for Racing in the first place.
“I guess before signing to Racing, Finn was probably a key ingredient for me to go there,” he said. “I knew that they would play an attacking style and I didn’t really have to change too much in the way I approached my rugby, so he definitely made it easier.
“He’s a world-class 10 with his vision in the game. And he has a real good positive influence on the guys around him in the way they play.
“He’s a great guy. He’s definitely helped me settle in, being one of the foreigners at the club, so it’s going to be an interesting week!”