Beale sees his bid for redemption slip him by

bottom of the bottle.

In two months, the utility back was sent home from South Africa, and suspended, for drunkenly punching teammate Cooper Vuna in the Rebels’ team bus; checked into a rehab facility after falling off the wagon towards the end of his suspension and took indefinite leave from the game.

During that time, he played just 40 minutes of rugby.

So when Wallabies coach Robbie Deans gave him a lifeline by selecting him in the squad of 23 to play the Lions last weekend, redemption would have been in the back of the 24-year-old’s mind.

Being on the bench, he would have expected a gentle reintroduction into things, but a horrendous run of four injuries to Wallaby backs saw him come on in the first half.

Not long after, he was in the thick of it, putting his body on the line by getting in the way of a rampaging Lions forward at fullback, before a trademark midfield break gave him the swagger of old.

Confidence restored, the Aussies gave him the goal-kicking duties, which saw him nail his first two attempts.

But as the significance of what his comeback from the brink would mean dawned on him, it’s almost as if he started visualising redemption a little too early.

One of the keys to kicking those winning penalties at the death – as Beale himself would tell you when he’s not high on adrenalin – is that you focus on the process, not the result.

Beale made the cardinal sin of looking up too soon, metaphorically, and not staying in the moment.

This showed itself in the way he missed a kickable penalty earlier, which would have won the match – he had already started snatching at reaching his promised land.

The Beale subplot to an enthralling Test between the Aussies and Lions put paid to the idea that sportsmen are immune to the harsh realities of life.

The Lions’ coach, Warren Gatland, a realist who spent his career in the shadow of All Black legend Sean Fitzpatrick, pointed out that Beale was literally illequipped for the big moment because he was wearing the wrong boots.

The truth is that had Beale not slipped on the greasy surface and nailed the kick, the completion of his “rehabilitation” would have been haste.

Beale may not have got what he wanted, but he certainly got what he needed by way of life’s little lessons.