Ben Te'o

Ben Te'o
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Te'o
Born (1987-01-27) 27 January 1987
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Rugby league
Position Second-row, Lock, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–08 Wests Tigers 36 10 0 0 40
2009–12 Brisbane Broncos 75 28 0 0 112
2013–14 South Sydney Rabbitohs 40 5 0 0 20
Total 151 43 0 0 172
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Samoa 1 2 0 0 8
2012–14 Queensland 7 0 0 0 0
Rugby union
Position Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–16 Leinster 40 5 0 0 25
2016– Worcester Warriors 5 3 0 0 15
Total 45 8 0 0 40
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– England 2 0 0 0 0
As of 19 November 2016
Source: NRL Stats

Ben Te'o (born 27 January 1987 in New Zealand) former Samoan International is a professional rugby union footballer who currently plays for Worcester Warriors. He previously played rugby league for the Wests Tigers, Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition, represented Samoa at international level and Queensland in the State of Origin series.

Background

Born in New Zealand, Te'o was a Hibiscus Coast Raiders junior, and was selected to play for the New Zealand Under 16's in 2003 and was also a member of the 2005 Junior Kiwis. He also played rugby union as a junior. Te'o moved to Australia at the age of 17 and lived on the Gold Coast, Queensland, playing rugby league football with Keebra Park State High School. His mother has English heritage.[1]

Rugby league career

Wests Tigers

In the 2007 NRL season Te'o debuted for the Wests Tigers in Round 9 in their 27-8 win against the St George Illawarra Dragons at ANZ Stadium. Then the next week in Round 10 Te'o scored his first try ever in first grade in the Tigers 30-26 win against the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium. Te'o played 14 games and scored 2 tries in the 2007 NRL season. In September 2007, he was called into the New Zealand Kiwis train-on squad with several other Wests Tigers players but was not selected for the tour of Great Britain.[2][3] Te'o scored his first 4 pointer for the year in Round 6 of the 2008 Rugby League Century Round with the Tigers winning 30-10 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Sydney Cricket Ground. He later scored 2 tries in Tigers 34-22 loss to his future club the Brisbane Broncos at ANZ Stadium in Round 8. He scored his last points of 2008 when he scored 2 tries in the Tigers 56-4 win against the 2008 NRL wooden spooners the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in Round 21. He played his final game for the Wests Tigers in the final round of the NRL 2008 Season in Round 26 in the Tigers 28-12 win against the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. Te'o played 22 games and score 8 tries in the 2008 NRL season.

Te'o was named in the Samoa squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[4] He was overlooked for the first two Samoa matches, however Te'o made his international debut on 9 November at CUA Stadium against France, scoring two tries.[5]

Brisbane Broncos

Te'o signed with the Brisbane Broncos for the 2009 season.[6][7] He made his debut for the Brisbane Broncos at Second Row in Round 1 against the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium. The Broncos won the game by a Peter Wallace field goal in their 19-18 win. He scored his try for the Broncos in Round 11 against his old club the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium. The Broncos won 20-18 in the wet conditions. A scored a double the next week in Brisbane's 58-24 win against the Penrith Panthers at Suncorp Stadium. Te'o played 18 games and scored 4 tries in his first year for the Broncos in 2009.

In May 2010 he was named in the Maroons squad to play against the Blues. Te'o pledged his allegiance to the Australia and the Queensland Maroons being named as the 18th man for Game 1.

It was announced on 5 June 2010, that Te'o had signed a contract extension which would see him remain at the Broncos until the end of the 2012 season.

On 2 May 2012, it was announced Te'o had agreed to terms with the South Sydney Rabbitohs up until the end of the 2015 NRL season. Later that year, he was selected to make Origin debut for the Maroons in game 3.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Ben Te’o joined the Rabbitohs in 2013 off the back of his best season in the NRL with the Broncos the previous year. Te’o represented Queensland and was selected in the Australian squad in 2012. Keen to establish himself as a starting forward in the Rabbitohs pack in 2013.

In 2013 Te'o was the subject of media attention due to a woman's complaint to police for assault which he has contested. The woman's allegations were found out to be faulty.

Te'o played all three games of the 2013 State of Origin series from the interchange bench, helping Queensland extend their record for consecutive series victories to eight. In the 2014 pre-season Te'o played for the Rabbitohs in the 2014 NRL Auckland Nines tournament. He played from the interchange bench in all three games of the 2014 State of Origin series, which Queensland lost.

Ben Te'o scored a crucial try against the roosters in the semi final of the 2014 NRL finals series, upon returning from suspension for a chicken wing tackle on Sam Thaiday. Ben Te'o's form in the final rounds as well as his hard runs during the state of origin series, saw him become one of the most feared back rowers in the game thus reliving his attacking prowess he had developed whilst at the Brisbane broncos. On 4 June 2014, Te'o announced that he would be leaving the Rabbitohs at the end of the season.[8]

Rugby union career

Leinster

On 12 August Leinster announced Te'o had signed to play for them after the end of the 2014 NRL season.[9] Te'o broke his arm within the first twenty minutes of his Leinster professional debut. After only three weeks he was named in the starting squad for Leinster after coach Matt O'Connor described him as an outstanding athlete.

Worcester Warriors

On 22 December 2015, Teo signed with English club Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership from the 2016-17 season.[10]

International

In May 2016 Te'o was called up by England coach Eddie Jones for the tour of Australia.[11]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/rugby/south-sydney-star-ben-teo-could-switch-codes-and-join-irish-club-leinster-next-season/story-fni2fxyf-1226953513523
  2. ↑ "2003 New Zealand 16's". New Zealand Rugby League. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
  3. ↑ "Kiwis and Junior Kiwis train-on squads announced". New Zealand Rugby League. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
  4. ↑ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 2008-10-08. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  5. ↑ Tamara Mclean (9 Nov 2008). "Te'o double inspires Samoa win". Fox Sports News (Australia). Retrieved 10 Nov 2008.
  6. ↑ Steve Ricketts (2008-08-28). "New-look Broncos tipped to kick on in 2009". Courier mail. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  7. ↑ "2009 NRL Player Movements". NRL Live. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  8. ↑ "Te'o confirms Souths exit". NRL.com. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Leinster sign centre Ben Te'o". Irish Independent. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "Worcester Warriors sign Leinster centre Ben Te'o". BBC Sport. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Eddie Jones says Chris Ashton can make England squad if he 'fixes' game". BBC Sport. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.

External links

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