Beale joins struggling Western Force for remainder of Super Rugby season
SYDNEY (AP) — Former Wallabies playmaker Kurtley Beale has signed a short-term deal with the Western Force until the end of the Super Rugby Pacific season, the Perth-based club said on Saturday.
The 35-year-old utility back joins the last-place Force just two months after a jury found him not guilty of raping a woman in the bathroom of a Sydney pub.
Beale only returned to the field for the first time in 14 months in mid-March for Sydney club side Randwick.
“I’m excited to join the Force and I’m looking forward to making the move to Perth with my family,” Beale said in a Force statement on Saturday. “I know I have plenty to offer and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue playing the game that I love."
Force coach Simon Cron said he hoped Beale’s experience would help his side given injuries across the backline.
“With the recent injury to Harry Potter the door opens for Kurtley to join our squad,” Cron said in a statement. “He will add valuable experience and rugby brains to our playing group."
The Force are in last place in the Super Rugby Pacific standings with a 1-6 record.
In matches Saturday, the ACT Brumbies beat the New South Wales Waratahs 40-16 for their fifth consecutive win and the Hamilton, New Zealand-based Chiefs defeated Moana Pasifika 68-12.
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