NSW Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson will be hoping Kurtley Beale doesn't cop the same battering from his extra-curricular sporting activity as new recruit Zac Guildford.
On Saturday night in Hamilton, former All Blacks winger Guildford got hit with several big punches in a three-round boxing points decision loss to NZ TV reality star Art Green.
Across the Tasman at around the same time, it was announced Beale was the latest sporting celebrity addition to the crew of supermaxi Perpetual LOYAL for this month's Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
He will join ex-Australian cricket skipper Michael Clarke in doing the race for the first time, while two fellow other crewmates, retired NRL star Anthony Minichiello and former Wallabies captain Phil Waugh, have done it before.
Beale doesn't have to resume training with the Waratahs until the new year, but Guildford was allowed a couple of a sessions off last week in preparation for his bout at the Fight for Life charity boxing promotion.
He started well against the New Zealand's television Bachelor Green, but ended up taking a good deal of punishment.
"It (boxing) is bloody tough, a lot harder than rugby," Guildford told the New Zealand Herald.
He wasn't disheartened by the experience and later even tweeted Green about the possibility of a rematch.
It's uncertain whether Gibson would be quite as enthusiastic about that prospect or if his predecessor as Waratahs coach, current Wallabies mentor Michael Cheika, would have allowed Guildford to fight in the first place.
However, Guildford has regularly come near the top of the Tahs' fitness tests since joining them for the start of their pre-season last month.
"Hopefully I don't get in too many fights during the (rugby)season," Guildford quipped on the Stuff.co.nz website.
"But nah, it (the boxing) has definitely helped out with my fitness."
Beale, who recently enjoyed a fine World Cup campaign, is making his debut in the Sydney to Hobart in the name of charity, hoping to raise funds to buy vital medical equipment for childrens' hospitals.
"Looking at the commitment of other sportsmen and women across the years and the contribution they have made to the Humpty Dumpty and LOYAL Foundations, it is a team that I want to be part off," Beale said.
"I want to know I have made a positive contribution to childrens' lives.
"The secondary challenge, but also just as important for me, is to test myself in a new arena.
"I believe that as an athlete to keep improving you must continually test yourself both mentally and physically."
