It brought Waratahs fans to their feet but NSW flyhalf Kurtley Beale says his try-saving tackle wasn’t that special.
Beale stopped barnstorming Reds winger Chris Feauai-Sautia in his tracks, as the Reds looked certain to score and said he was as surprised as anyone with the way things unfolded.
“There’s a bit of talk about it at the moment but basically it was surprising,” he said.
“I think obviously he is a great finisher and I had to just try and stop him, put my body on the line and that’s exactly what I did,” he said.
“There was nothing special about it, I think my first intent was to try and push him to score in the corner.
“(I was) surprised that I actually got there in the end and I was able to put a tackle on him, I was pretty happy that I got him down.”
Beale flourished in the chief playmaking spot for the Waratahs against the Reds and said his confidence was growing in the 10, though he expects incumbent Bernard Foely to reclaim the starting flyhalf spot when he returns from injury.
“I know what I can do out there on the footy field and I’ve got that belief and I know I’ve got that belief from my teammates and that’s all that matters to me,” he said.
“Obviously the coaching staff have installed that belief and it was just a matter of me just going out there and just do the job and get the job done.
“I was very lucky to have some quality players around me to help me get my job done and obviously having a forward pack like we do at the moment it makes my job a lot easier when they’re laying a good platform up front.”
Beale’s combination with debutant David Horwitz worked well against the Reds’ fledgling inside backs but Beale admitted they would need to brace for a much different proposition against Aussie favourites, the Brumbies.
The 27-year-old was adamant the ACT franchise had earned the favourites tag, a label that has stuck even more firmly after a 52-10 romping of the Hurricanes.
“They are the talk of the Australian conference and I think also they've got all the experience, all the attacking threat,” he said.
“I think they played some of the best rugby in round one so we as a team have got to be aware of that so it’s going to be a huge challenge for us going in the game."
