Wallabies star Kurtley Beale opens up on alcohol struggles

The incident followed a massive 64-7 loss to the Sharks in 2013 and was sparked by captain Gareth Delve asking Beale to put a shirt on when arriving at the hotel.

The 33-year-old got physical with his captain and Cooper Vuna as a result and, after checking into rehab, understood he deserved every consequence of his drunken actions.

"I checked myself into rehab. It came off the back end of the Rebels, me getting in a stink with one of the other players,' Beale said in Stan's 'Kurtley: My Story.'

"I made a bit of a porkchop of myself and absolutely deserved every sanction and everything like that. It was the time there where things weren't going right for me. I had to get help.

"With the support going back to my pillars, they pretty much said, maybe let's go down this route and try find yourself a bit. It was pretty tough.

"You think as a young kid you know everything, right? You know everything. I always see it as it's all learnings. It's a time for growth and I found that period really helpful because it was all about reconnecting with my identity because I lost it.

"I didn't know who I was. When you don't have that sense of who you are and that attachment of yourself then you lose yourself by not staying true to yourself."

The well-travelled star had to complete his time at rehab before he would be considered for Wallabies selection again.

Beale wound up being selected for the British and Irish Lions series, where he did not performing to his potential.

"I was very lucky to be picked in that Lions squad after that," he said.

"I felt good and everything, but the way the games went on, it wasn't the best.

"Again, they're all kind of learnings, you've just got to accept it and then move on from that."