Beale given another day to prove fitness

The moment of truth for injured Australian full back Kurtley Beale is still to come after he was cautiously named in the Wallabies side to take on the All Blacks in Sunday's semi-final at Eden Park.

Australia coach Robbie Deans said Beale’s recovery from a hamstring injury would be assessed at the captain’s run on Saturday with a final decision made after the session.

“He’ll have to convince us that he’s 100 per cent,” Deans said.
Beale comfortably completed some running drills at training on Friday but Deans said that his ability to repeatedly hit top speed was critical and had yet to be tested.

“He’ll have to go again tomorrow morning to first of all show he’s had no ill-effects off the back of the work he did today,” he said.

“Then he’ll have to go again and convince himself firstly and us secondly that he’s good to go.”

Should the full back fail to prove his fitness, Australia have pencilled in the changes to their line-up that will occur.

Named same XV

Adam Ashley-Cooper will claim the No.15 jersey, with Anthony Faingaa moving off the bench to outside centre and Rob Horne coming into the replacements.

The contingency plan aside, Deans has named the same starting XV that defeated South Africa 11-9 in their quarter-final in Wellington last Sunday.

In the only change to their 22 from that match, second row Rob Simmons has been called on to the bench in place of Nathan Sharpe, who is left stranded on 99 Test caps by the omission.

Deans said there was no place for sentiment in team selection and inferred the field coverage that Simmons provides is favourable against an All Blacks side likely to move the ball.

“Rob is athletic and has a slightly different skill set to Sharpey,” he said.

“We anticipate very much a lateral challenge from the All Blacks. We expect they’ll use their ball side to side.”

Great presence

While the fitness of Beale remains a serious concern, Deans said that the participation of the 22-year-old at training on Friday was a psychological boost for the team.

"He is a great presence around the group whether he's running or whether he's just providing voice,” Deans said.

“He's part of this group and big part of the spiritual element of the group. He's very much a source of positivity.”

There is no doubt the Wallabies squad will be attempting to channel some of that positivity over the next 24 hours in the hope that their strike weapon will be fit to take the field in Sunday’s semi-final.

“He’d be a massive loss for us because Kurtley provides so much to the team, not only in attack but just in the mood and excitement of the group,” his potential replacement Ashley-Cooper said on Tuesday.

Inside centre Pat McCabe (shoulder) and prop Sekope Kepu (ankle) have both sufficiently recovered from their injuries to take their place in the Australian team.