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The Red Rose are set to give another former South Sydney Rabbitohs player a berth in their centres, with Eddie Jones keen to bring Ben Te’o on England’s tour to Australia later this year.
“Te’o is a possible,” Jones said earlier this month. “The boy can play. He was an absolutely outstanding rugby league player. You don’t want to run down his channel when he is defending at 12.
“Potentially we are going to have three world-class options at 12: Manu Tuilagi, Te’o and Owen Farrell. It’s a great situation to be in and then we’ll pick the one who suits the game.”
Like Burgess, Te’o left the Rabbitohs immediately after the drought-breaking 2014 grand final, although where Burgess went ‘home’ to England (no self-respecting Yorkshireman would call a southern city like Bath home, but that’s really neither here nor there), Te’o signed for Leinster and headed to Ireland.
Te’o – a league second rower – learnt his craft as a centre as a relative unknown in Dublin.
As for his former teammate, Te’o Te’o told the Independent.ie he empathised with Burgess being thrown in the deep end so early in his rugby career:
“I had lot more experience, learning all the steps, he (Burgess) went in pretty early, didn’t he? He was also playing two positions at once, so I can see how that would have been very difficult.”
However Te’o hasn’t gone completely unnoticed, with Worcester Warriors recruiting him for the 2016-17 season.
In announcing the signing, Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan said, “Ben is a really exciting talent and has proved he is more than capable of transferring his skills from league to union.
“His experience and power in the centre will add further depth to our midfield and we’re looking forward to him joining up with the side.”
Now the former Queensland State of Origin player – who also played for Wests Tigers, the Brisbane Broncos and represented Samoa at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup – is on the verge of becoming a dual international.
Although he isn’t counting his chickens before they hatch. When asked if he’d been in contact with Jones, Te’o replied, “Ah, there’s been a couple of texts here and there. It’s nice he’s shown a little bit of interest.
“It is nice to be mentioned. I don’t feel right now it has changed my thinking at all. Look I have got two regular-season games to go, then the final series. If something happens it happens, if it doesn’t it doesn’t. There is just another step forward.”
Te’o qualifies for England on heritage grounds, but had he stayed with Leinster for one more season, he could have played for Ireland due to residency rules.
But when asked about whether he contemplated sticking around and eventually donning the green jersey, he said, “A year is a long time, you don’t know what’s around the corner in terms of what the Irish coaches are thinking, they might go the other way.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.