WARATAHS five-eighth Kurtley Beale has been told by NSW assistant coach Scott Wisemantel that he "has his work cut out" if he is to stop Daniel Halangahu from taking his No.10 jersey for the start of next year's Super 14 season.

The response? Well, the black eye Beale gave Wisemantel in a contact session at training yesterday morning might not have been what he expected, but it was still one he was heartened to receive - even if it hurt like hell.

Wisemantel said he cajoled Beale into taking him on in a one-on-one drill in a two metre square as he demonstrated a training routine to the Waratahs.

"It was about the ball carry," Wisemantel said. "I used Kurtley as a demo. We started and I said, 'C'mon Kurtley, have a go'. We got stuck into it. There wasn't a tackle, but there was contact. I had the ball and he was trying to get it. I was trying to keep him at bay and he whacked me in the 'mince pie'. That will be the last time I call him fat. But you can't go crook on that. He was getting in there having a dig, which is good."

Wisemantel, who has signed with the Waratahs for two years and was on the Wallabies' World Cup coaching panel last year, is accustomed to being on the receiving end of physical drills. During the World Cup, Wisemantel's nose ended up so swollen and red for several days that he could have doubled as a circus clown after he dared to wrestle with second-rower Dan Vickerman.

"He clamped my nose and twisted it, like he tried to twist it off. It was a blood blister," he said.

At another Wallabies session, Wisemantel came off second best while wrestling with prop Matt Dunning. "He had me pinned one day and more or less to the extent where I was going to pass out. I wouldn't tap out on him … I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of tapping out. Jason Webber [then the Wallabies conditioning coach] told us to stop."

One of the crucial factors in the Waratahs' Super 14 campaign will be the effectiveness of the starting five-eighth. Beale is the incumbent, but the pressure is on him to keep Halangahu out.

Beale, 19 and about to start his third Super 14 season, has not played a full game since last season's final against the Crusaders in Christchurch, in which he injured his leg. Since then, he has also had to recover from a broken hand.

Halangahu, 24 and set to play his fourth Super series after an ankle injury ruined his 2008 season, has been in outstanding form for Sydney University in the Shute Shield and for the Junior Waratahs in their recent Fiji tour, Wisemantel said.

"His form in Fiji was sensational and form in the last eight weeks of the [club] competition was absolutely superb. So Kurtley has his work cut out for him. It is up to Kurtley, but the pressure is real."