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Young rugby fans across Australia are in awe of Wallabies winger Max Jorgensen, who has emerged as a true game-breaker at Test level. But ‘Jorgo has his sports heroes and now he has the opportunity to learn directly from one of them.
Jorgensen looked up to Kurtley Beale as “one of my idols” growing up, and both players are part of the Wallabies squad for November’s Nations Championship. 95-Test cap Beale hasn’t worn Wallaby gold in a Test since 2021 and hasn’t appeared in the team for two years.
Beale has been recognized as one of the top three players in the 2026 Super Rugby AUS season after helping lead Western Force to victory in the grand final. The utility back played a part in a number of tries during the first half, including a long-range pass to set up flyer Dylan Pietsch.
When the Wallabies unveiled their starting squad, Beale was not named but Hunter Paisami withdrew from the spring tour. Coach Les Kiss decided to recall Beale and Kalani Thomas, as well as select unrestricted winger James Ramm.
The Wallabies have arrived in the United Kingdom and are about to face their biggest rivals England at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. Jorgensen had the chance to battle Beale in training, which the 22-year-old explained “was unbelievable”.
“Everybody knows what Kurtley has done in his career and what he brings to the team. He has so much experience,” Jorgensen told reporters.
“For me personally, it’s pretty special. I grew up watching him, he was one of my idols, so being in camp with him and learning from him is really cool.”
“Like I said before, he brings a heck of a lot of experience (that) not many players have. To be able to learn from him, it’s pretty special.”
Beale in Wallaby gold suit vs Wales five years ago, but hasn’t moved closer to the 100-Test milestone since then. The 37-year-old is still five appearances short of that tally but could feature in the next few weeks.
The Wallabies begin their tour against England, before traveling to Edinburgh to play against Scotland, then Wales in Cardiff, before returning to London. Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium will host a brand new one Nations Championship Finals weekend later this month.
Teddy Wilson, Tom Lambert and Ramm are the three uncapped prospects in the group, while Allan Alaalatoa and Beale are the most experienced. With Paisami unavailable, Isaac Henry and Len Ikitau are the other leading options to wear the number 12 jersey.
“Everybody knows what Kurtley can do. Like I said before, it’s always good to have that bit of extra competition, extra options in the back line depending on how we want to play,” the winger added.
“It’s really good.”
