RUGBY UNION: WASPS are hopeful of keeping hold of Australian international Kurtley Beale amid reports linking the fly half with a return back to his homeland.
Beale became the highest paid player in English rugby when he joined Wasps on a one-year deal in the region of £1.5m back in May but he has yet to make his eagerly anticipated.
The 27-year-old is continuing to recover from a serious knee injury which has kept him out of action since May but is expected to return in December following an intense rehabilitation process.
Australia head coach Michael Cheika has revealed that he has spoken to Beale about the option of returning to play in his native home next summer, with some reports suggesting he will not activate his option for a 12-month extension.
But Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young, is confident Beale, who has been capped 60 times for Australia, will remain at the Ricoh Arena long enough to stamp his authority on the Aviva Premiership.
“Kurtley has signed a one-year contract with us, so I don’t know where all this about him leaving early has come from,” said Young.
“He wants to experience living in a new country and playing in a new league. He wanted to give it a shot for a year initially. His girlfriend has come over and he understandably needed to see if they’d settle over here and if he enjoyed playing in the Premiership.
“Kurtley is free to do whatever he feels is best for him at the end of the one-year contract, but we are very open to discussions and would like to sit down with him and his agent to discuss his plans and our plans.
“We haven’t done that yet because we didn’t want to cloud the issue with his rehab, as the most important thing is getting him back fit and out on the pitch.”
“I feel for KB because it must have been difficult to arrive injured and not be fully involved. He just wants to get on the park and show everyone what he can do, but that will come and I’m sure he’ll feel even more a part of everything when he’s fully involved in training and match day.”
As for recent discussions with Australia coach Michael Cheika, Young added: “Kurtley is obviously a proud Australian who would still like to play for his country.
“We fully expect Kurtley to be talking to Michael Cheika, there’s no problem with that.
“Obviously the 60-cap rule is in place over there, which means they can select Kurtley anyway, but I totally get that Cheiks would prefer to have his best players back in Australia. I imagine it will be out of our hands at some stage, as it will be Kurtley’s decision.”
