Rugby: Wallabies star Kurtley Beale arrested over alleged sexual assault

All Blacks flanker Liam Messam tries to tackle Australian first five Kurtley Beale during Investec Rugby Championship and the second Bledisloe Cup test at Eden Park on Saturday night. 23 August 2014 New Zealand Herald Photograph By Greg Bowker NZH 14Oct14 - Kurtley Beale Beale will face an ARU conduct committee. Picture / Greg Bowker NZH 22Apr16 - Kurtley Beale is second-five tip. Picture / Greg Bowker

Australian rugby union star Kurtley Beale has been arrested over an alleged sexual assault at a Bondi hotel late last year.

Beale was stopped by police on Rainbow Street, Kingsford just before 2.30pm on Friday afternoon and taken to Waverley Police Station.

NSW Police said in a statement on Friday afternoon: “A man has been arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault in Sydney’s east last year.

“In December, officers from Tweed/Byron Police District received a report a 28-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted at a licensed premise on Beach Road, Bondi Beach, on Saturday 17 December 2022.

“Detectives from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command took carriage of the matter and commenced an investigation under Strike Force Titheradge.

“Following inquiries, a 33-year-old man was arrested following a vehicle stop on Rainbow Street, Kingsford, just before 2.30pm today.

“He has been taken to Waverley Police Station. Inquiries continue.”

Earlier this month, Beale was selected as part of a 44-player squad for a Wallabies training camp on the Gold Coast.

The 33-year-old has 95 Wallabies caps and has played for Racing 92 in France in recent years.

In 2014 he was found to have breached the rugby code of conduct by sending an offensive image to former Wallabies business manager Di Patston.

Beale was previously fined $40,000 and suspended indefinitely from play for punching Melbourne Rebels teammates Gareth Delve and Cooper Vuna on the team bus after a Super Rugby game in South Africa.

Beale married his partner Maddi in August 2020 and the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, a boy named Kurtley, last year.