There was always a chance a former South Sydney Rabbitoh would return to Australia one day wearing the red rose of the England rugby union team. Not many would have expected that former Rabbitoh to be Ben Te’o.
When Sam Burgess departed Redfern in 2014 amidst much fanfare, I expected the former Bradford Bull and England star to go on to have a long career in union.
Alas, the Burgess experiment was doomed from the start. Pushed and pulled from the back row to the centres by a Bath and England management incapable of seeing the bigger picture, Burgess departed ignominiously after England’s World Cup disaster, returning to Sydney and the NRL after earning five caps.
Meanwhile, the Aukland-born Ben Te’o quietly went about his business for Leinster in the Pro12.
There was little ceremony about Te’o’s arrival in the Emerald Isle, and when the former Queensland Origin star broke his arm during his first start, the dim spotlight swiftly moved across the Irish Sea to his former NRL teammate’s tribulations.
As such, he was able to quietly go about his business in learning the code, something he credits with his current success.
“I got a lot more experience, learning all the steps. I’d have to say 80 per cent of all things I’ve learnt in rugby union has come from my team mates giving me tips,” Te’o said.
In his own words, Te’o did not find it easy, telling the Irish Examiner, “There was a lot of really hard times in terms of the skill set and training and early days when sometimes I thought had I spent too far away, too long away from the game … I had to fall back in love with rugby, to be honest, to really make sure I excelled.”
And excel he has.
Playing centre, the same position as another other famous code-hopping Kiwi, Sonny Bill Williams, has thrived in for the All Blacks and the spot that Burgess coveted most for England’s World Cup bid, Te’o has performed exceptionally in Ireland.
Te’o won the Leinster’s Player of the Year Award this year, during a season in which Leinster have soared to top of the Pro12 ladder and made the grand final, to be played against Irish rivals Connacht at Murrayfield this weekend.
Due to England’s strict ruling of no foreign-based players being eligible for selection, the grand final will be Te’o’s final game for the province. He has tackled the final hurdle to his England section, earning a contract with Worcester for next season.
As such, the way has been cleared for Eddie Jones to name him in his England Touring squad for the three-match Australian series starting in June.
Jones is a fan, telling Fox Sports last month, “The boy can play. He was an absolutely outstanding rugby league player.”
Having been named in the squad, if Te’o does start in Australia, it will thankfully be based on merit.
And this is the most pleasing aspect of this story for fans of the game. In an era where code hopping is booming, Te’o’s is a great story of perseverance over hyperbole, of performance over reputation.
However, there is another side to this story.
Te’o was one year away from becoming eligible to play for Ireland through residency, and when asked by the Irish Examiner whether it was a tough choice to declare for England the former league star said, “I just thought 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. I just think when you see an opportunity and it feels right just take it and go with it.”
He’s right in thinking a year is a long time in sport. But surely international sport should be more than a good opportunity.
Admittedly, we live in an increasingly small world.
Te’o, born in New Zealand and a Junior Kiwis representative in 2005, played for Samoa in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He then declared for Australia so as to play State of Origin for Queensland, before now accepting England, the land of his mother’s birth, as his home in Union.
That’s his fourth nationality as a player.
For perspective, Worcester will be just his fifth professional club side, after stints at the Wests Tigers, Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney in the NRL and Leinster in rugby).
Although I understand this is an era in which Jarryd Hayne – a trailblazer for code hoppers everywhere – can opt to pull on a Fijian sevens jumper over an Australian one and Semi Radradra can abandon Fiji to play for the Kangaroos, that doesn’t mean it should become the norm.
If Te’o plays for England over Australia next month, will his cap take pride of place in the pool room next to his Kangaroos squad tracksuit? Or would the white offset the blue of his Samoan jersey?
Granted, there was once a time when Te’o would have been ostracised from Union for the heinous crime of being a former professional league player.
We don’t want to go back to that era.
But eligibility rules must be cleaned up. Something that will help the so-called ‘smaller nations’ in both league and union in years to come needs to happen.
Upfromdown
Guest
where is the outcry in the media about this?
JE
Guest
The idea that eligibility should be defined by heritage spits in the face of immigrants everywhere. I'm from the US -- 99% of us are immigrants, or descended from immigrants. Should only Native Americans get to play for the Eagles? Why should 2nd-generation immigrants get to play (through their parents), but not first-gen? That seems pretty arbitrary. The idea that nationality is determined by blood is hopelessly outdated in the mobile 21st century -- it persists now only among the Boris Johnsons and Donald Trumps and Jean-Marie LePens of the world. Who cares where your parents are from -- the only question that should be asked for eligibility is, "What is your country?" Not your family's country of origin, not the place where you work, but the place where you hold citizenship/hold a passport etc.
timbo
Guest
"Andrew Strauss too! A few years ago almost half the England cricket team were South Africans yet we were still number 1" It depends what you mean by 'South African'. You mention Andrew Strauss. He has an English mother and South African father. Born in South Africa the family moved back to England when he was 5. So what is he? I've got no problems Strauss claiming to be English or South African. most of the others you mention have English parentage. Compton is the grandson of one of the most famous English cricketers of all time - it would be like Shane Warne's grandson not being considered an Aussie. Without being controversial, the main reason this tends to be people of English descent and heritage moving from South Africa to England and not the other way around is that very few move to South Africa looking for a better life any more. It's mostly people of an English heritage/background fleeing SA to go 'home'. 'they have 2 million rugby played' The use of this figure normally automatically rules out being taken seriously on any subject. It's normally only used by people who don't have a clue about the topic, which is not normally the case, from what I've seen, with your posts.
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
See below comment to Timbo
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
By the way for a bit of personal background I lived in London, UK for 4 years, I'm married to a 8th generation Australian and currently live in Australia. I'm very much English speaking South African with British & Australian ancestry. But have never seen myself as "British" or "Australian" at all, but love all 3 countries: UK, Aus & SA.
cuw
Guest
not really it just shows that , since the advent of airplane and jet engine , labor migration is a fact of life :) there are people moving in search of greener pastures and there are countries that actively promote such travel and even encourage it. what is controllable though , is the eligibility criterion thru residency rule. coz i dont think there is any laws that stop inter racial or inter country marriages and there certainly is no rule that stops people travelling looking for work / better life (unless ur in a list of name :P)
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
Hey Timbo, Brad grew up in my area, went to my prep school, went to one of the big rugby rival schools (Kearsney College) and even went to my youth group for a time. He is very much like me, a South African through and through irrespective of whether he had a British passport from birth. Many of my friends who are English speaking South Africans have British passports from their ancestral roots. Same same as Kevin Peterson, Matt Stevens (also Kearsney) and heck of a lot of others. I guess the point I'm making is that it's less to do with an NZ/Aussie league player being so good that he cracks it into the England team, and more to do with England not producing their own good talent when they have 2 million rugby played and 60 million people. Brad has been the 12 for England, but would've had next to no chance of playing for the Boks as there were many better players ahead of him, yet he's good enough for England. I know this is an Aussie website so fair enough that there's a debate about eligibility when an Aussie/Kiwi plays for England. But there are so many South Africans playing for other countries in rugby and cricket it's frightening, yet not many have raised an eyebrow.... so why now? Off the top of my head: Nick Compton (he went to school with me), Kevin Peterson (went to a rival school), Rory Kockott, Grant Elliott, Matt Stevens, Jonathan Trott, Scott Spedding, Clyde Rathbone (Bok u21 captain) .... Roux, other playing for Scotland and a bunch of others I can't even think of off the top of head right now. Heck even Andrew Merhtens was born in SA (grew up in NZ though)! Andrew Strauss too! A few years ago almost half the England cricket team were South Africans yet we were still number 1 :-) Anyway... You get the picture
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
Hey Charging Rhino, I actually wrote the article initially to highlight how Te'o quietly went about his business and how he has now got the England spot that his former Rabbitohs teammate Sam Burgess coveted - and the contrast between the two. The secondary focus was on his nationality and eligibility to play for England, but obviously that was the topic that drew most attention. Brad Barritt is a slightly different case, but you're right, it's a similar case and highlights similar issues. Timbo's comment is quite appropriate though - "that the Wallabies could pick a backline against England with only one player born in Australia." This perhaps illustrates the way World Rugby is going?
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
Thanks for that Pot Hale, I wasn't certain on the passport rules for the Republic (despite my fiancee being Irish - probably something I should have looked into!) but that does make sense and is a good way of dealing with what is a difficult situation. I think I was mostly interested from a perspective of a Northern Irishman standing wearing an Ireland jersey while Amhrán na bhFiann/The Solider Song was playing and how that feels. I know that away from Dublin "Ireland's Call" is used, and it is always played after Amhrán na bhFiann... but Ireland's call has only been in use since the mid-90's? Sorry going way off topic here - but it's always been a source of interest to me and that fact that it is a combined Ireland team has always fascinated me. Love that story about Bracken/Saunders too - brilliant stuff. :-)
Derm
Roar Guru
and he ain't tearing up stumps with Munster either. Although he's had a fair few injuries along the way.
Derm
Roar Guru
"would the situation be differnt if he had tried to play for oz before going to uk? i think yes. also if not for his mother , teo would have to live in uk for another year to qualify for england or even ireland" No, if he had played for another season in Ireland, he would have been eligible for Ireland, having played two seasons already. He would have to wait 3 years, if he wanted to play for England. Ireland is not the UK - separate country, cuw.
soapit
Guest
i disagree. i think heritage can count for something but doesnt need to if the player themselves has established the new connection. i agree about the residency being too slack tho and would increase it to 5 or 6 years if it were up to me but that would be plenty.
soapit
Guest
dont know too much detail about speight but if you mean employemt as a rugby player bo doubt that problem exists tho less in oz than many countries.
PHIL O'Donovan
Guest
Why in the world should those Nations "shift the dates" in order to accomadate the southern nations?.It's traditional,successful and profitable.Don't know if Australian rugby ticks all those boxes?
Timbo
Guest
"Why weren’t these articles debating eligibility or the standard of England’s athletes etc written when another 12, Brad Barritt was picked for England?" Brad Barritt had a British passport from birth. Most of the Barritt family (aunts, uncles, grandparents and going back generations) are English born and bred and always lived there. The main shock on this thread is that it is not inconceivable (although unlikely unless Genia and Cooper get back in favour) that the Wallabies could pick a backline against England with only one player born in Australia and even him having no Aussie parents. You could easily make a full 15 of Wallabies from the last 3 or 4 years alone in which every player was born somewhere else. Most of these players I haven't got a problem with (although Speight, for example, was a clear 'project' player), but for Aussies of all people to be giving out stick on this topic is mind-blowing.
Timbo
Guest
' soon England will do what Chelsea or was it Spurs did, have a team without one Englishman….that would be the biggest joke of all' At the current rate, the Wallabies will get there a long way ahead of England - have you ever done a google search on the background of the Wallaby squads over the last few years.
Timbo
Guest
The basic point was that parentage and heritage must count for something when talking about eligibility. Personally, I have a problem with the short residency rule. Nathan Hughes becomes eligible for England in July. Very good player, but I'm uncomfortable with it as he has no connection at all with England other than having played for an English club for 3 seasons. I'm more comfortable with parent(s) eligibility and/or having a long residence particularly when that occurred before the rugby career. It surprises me that Aussies seem so keen to throw stones about a situation like Te'o given the make-up of the Wallaby squad.
cuw
Guest
differnt case boss, he is actually from zimbabwe (his parents from rhodesia) - which used to be a brit colony. thus he has british passport. the same concept applies to the frenchies from their colonies ( i think Abdelatif Benazzi was one such player) i think the same applied to graham hick , the cricketer.
cuw
Guest
guess u shud go by DNA , rather than BLOOD coz the blood in all of us is not defined by country or race. simply it goes as A+ A- B+ B-.... it would be a hell of a problem if blood was to be categorized by place of origin . in that case an auzzy in london who gets hit by a car would find it hard to get a blood transfusion :) (on the other hand considering the number of auzzy rugger-rites in england it wont be such a problem :P )
cuw
Guest
Tyler Bleyendaal was the under 20 flyhalf and skipper in 2010 (think he won the cup too). was with crusaders in super rugger - behind the likes of Dan Carter Tom taylor Colin slade .... but he did get game time when carter was out and then slade was also out . however he realized very early there was little chance for him in allblacks , especially when tom taylor got a nod (to the surprise of many :) ). he was solid but not that great (considering the kind of players from crusaders). the question is , would he have been better than Mounga / Volavola had he stayed? doubt much