Beale to miss rest of Super 15

Melbourne - Melbourne Rebels star Kurtley Beale will not travel to South Africa for the team’s final two games of the season after he failed a fitness test today.

Beale remained in Melbourne while his team-mates flew out on Sunday after he finished last Fridays 32-17 loss to the Reds in what coach Damien Hill described as a "bruised and battered" state.

He had gone into the game with sore ribs from the Wallabies Test against Wales the previous weekend and was seen walking very gingerly to the dressing rooms after full-time.

A Rebels spokesperson said the medical staff "did not think that he was right to play".

"They wanted to give him a couple of days off to rest and they’ve had a look at him today and don’t feel that he has recovered well enough, and don’t feel that there was any benefit in sending him over there, so they’re resting him here," the spokesperson said.

Beale joins James O’Connor, who injured his hamstring last Friday, remaining in Melbourne.