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Kurtley Beale will be given time to recover from his hamstring problems by being left out of Michael Cheika’s Australia squad to face Fiji, Scotland and Italy next month.
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Beale had been expected to link up with the Wallabies for the series, however he pulled up during Wasps’ Premiership semi-final against Leicester Tigers last weekend.
He remains a major doubt for this weekend’s final against Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham – a game that would be Beale’s swansong before returning to Super Rugby with Waratahs.
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young said he would give Beale as much time as possible to prove his fitness, but as a result of his niggle Australia will give him time to recuperate ahead of the Rugby Championship.
“Kurtley won’t be coming back, I spoke to him, and I think the right thing, talking to the physio and that, considering the injury status he had before he left and now a couple of niggles towards the end of the season, this isn’t the first one he’s had,” he said.
“I’d rather he just has a month off, keeps himself in some kind of nick, has a pre-season or version of a pre-season before the Rugby Championship.”
Cheika expects to welcome back Will Genia to the Wallabies line-up for their mini-series that begins against Fiji on June 10 in Melbourne.
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Genia is currently playing in France with Stade Francais but is set to return to Australia after the Top 14 side’s play-off with Northampton Saints to earn a place in the European Champions Cup.
“Obviously it’s pretty clear in my thinking for the first Test where I see him [Genia] in the pecking order, so I would be crazy not to [pick him],” Cheika added.
“There’s going to be some things happening [with the salary cap] but I’m very committed to bringing him back, regardless.”
Cheika will name a 33-man squad for the June series on Tuesday.
