Australia to wear indigenous jersey against Uruguay

SHOWS:

OITA, JAPAN (OCTOBER 4, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. KURTLEY BEALE (LEFT) AND MICHAEL HOOPER HOLDING INDIGENOUS JERSEY

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN UTILITY BACK, KURTLEY BEALE, SAYING:

"As a proud indigenous Australian, I'm very excited to be wearing the indigenous Wallabies playing strip tomorrow against Uruguay, we've got all the buy-in from the players and the staff and as a country it's true representation of and acknowledgement to the first nation's people of our country, so it's going to be a very special night for all involved."

3. WALLABIES JERSEY

STORY: An untimely lapse in off-field discipline robbed Kurtley Beale of the chance to wear the Wallabies' indigenous jersey at Twickenham last year but the veteran fullback will don it with pride at the World Cup against Uruguay on Saturday (October 5).

Australia will wear the strip at Oita Stadium for the first time at the global showpiece and only the third time ever.

They have also sought permission to wear it in the semi-finals in Japan, should they make it that far.

Aboriginal Australian Beale, along with fellow back Adam Ashley-Cooper, was forced to miss the England test last year after the pair breached team protocols.

Media reports at the times said their omission was due to inviting friends back to Ashley-Cooper's hotel room after the 9-6 loss to Wales two weeks earlier.

It was a tough pill for Beale to swallow but the 30-year-old said he was glad to finally get his chance to show off the mainly green strip that represents the country's 700,000 indigenous Australians.

Indigenous athletes are heavily represented in rugby league and Australian Rules football but only 14 have played for the Wallabies in the team's 120-year history.

Beale is currently the only Aboriginal Australian player in the Wallabies camp.

Australia were edged by Wales 29-25 in their second Pool D clash on Sunday and are looking to bounce back against the much-improved Uruguayans to get their World Cup on firmer footing.

(Production: Lucien Libert)