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Trio of clubs ready to swoop for Ben Te'o
By Alex Shaw
The vultures are beginning to circle for a number of the England stars who may be turning their back on international rugby after the Rugby World Cup next year.
Ben Te’o, who joined Worcester Warriors in 2016, is in a contract season at the West Midlands club and has been the subject of much interest from teams looking to bolster their midfield options next year.
With Te’o set to turn 32 next month, the upcoming RWC could signal the end of his international career and if he is keen to sign one last big deal before hanging up his boots, a move to France could be on the cards.
RugbyPass understands that the Top 14 trio of Racing 92, Toulouse and Toulon are all interested in Te’o, whose value has lessened at Sixways due to the potency of Ryan Mills and Francois Venter in the club’s centre spots, as well as the rises to prominence of homegrown talents Ollie Lawrence and Will Butler.
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Moves to the south of France have reinvigorated plenty of players in the latter stages of their careers and it could do the same for Te’o, who has faced his fair share of injury problems since making that 2016 move to Worcester. Should France not take Te’o’s fancy, RugbyPass understands that there is also interest from multiple Japanese clubs in the Top League.
Between the injuries, the regular international call-ups and a salary that rises above £500k with all add-ons and bonuses, it’s been a frustrating two-and-a-half years so far for the club who, whilst not relishing losing a player of Te’o’s calibre, seem happy with the other options they have and may be better served directing the funds to other areas of their squad, where the need to strengthen is more pressing.
The former rugby league player has picked up 16 England caps over the last two years, as well as starring on the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand, and will be keen to finish on a high with club and country, should a move to France or Japan materialise over the coming months.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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