The 'Best Cross-Code XIII' that left Ben Te'o annoyed over Danny Cipriani

The absence of all forms of rugby at the moment on account of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to become creative and Fox League have recently compiled their ‘Best Cross-Code XIII’. Their nominated team has an unsurprising blend of pace, power and guile from some of the best players union has to offer currently.

However, dual-code international Ben Te’o feels his ex-England team-mate Danny Cipriani is a glaring omission from the selection. The ex-Samoa rugby league international and England union representative said that he had played with or against every member of this fantasy team but had “never seen a ball player like (Cipriani)”. 

Fox League’s selection is quite a formidable team and it already has a number of players discussing it on social media. But Te’o is a player who has a lot of experience in both codes and would know what union players would surely be successful in league. 

This is high praise from Te’o to Cipriani who is currently the Rugby Players’ Association player of the year and switching to league is something that has come close to being a reality in the past as the 32-year-old Gloucester fly-half toyed with the prospect of moving to the NRL throughout his career.

Te’o is currently plying his trade with the Sunwolves in Japan after leaving Worcester Warriors last summer and having his England career effectively terminated after failing to make Eddie Jones’ World Cup squad. After a brief stint with Toulon, the centre was now playing in Super Rugby until the season was suspended in mid-March due to the virus outbreak.