Ben Te\u2019o emerges from Brisbane Broncos\u2019 headquarters, umbrella in one hand and walking a little gingerly. As we head for the cafe at the Broncos\u2019 lavish training base, where Te\u2019o is now an assistant coach, he explains he has just spent two nights in hospital due to a burst appendix. To his great credit, he still felt obliged to meet, and he is good company. It is entirely complimentary to remark that Te\u2019o has never struck as an overly complicated person. He says it how he sees it. And there is plenty to say.<\/p>\n
It is 8am, the day before the first British & Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Te\u2019o has been in demand of late, for the local press wants to know how the Lions measures up against NRL\u2019s State of Origin and the former England centre is the only man to both represent the former and play in the latter.<\/p>\n
Before we get down to a globe-trotting cross-code career, the booze-fuelled incident that precipitated his departure from England and his transition to coaching, Te\u2019o insists on introducing me to the Broncos superstar Payne Haas. \u201cA freak,\u201d Te\u2019o enthuses, a union loose forward to die for if he ever made the switch.<\/p>\n
Ben Te\u2019o and Mike Brown were controversially dropped by Eddie Jones on the eve of the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Photograph: Steve Bardens\/RFU\/The RFU Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
This is the second time we have sat down for an interview. The first was six years ago but it never saw the light of day because it was conducted in the buildup to the 2019 World Cup and Te\u2019o was not picked in the final squad. He and Mike Brown were jettisoned by Eddie Jones after clashing during a night out<\/a> in a pre-tournament training camp in Treviso and that incident is as good a place as any to start.<\/p>\n Te\u2019o scoffs at the idea a \u201cbrawl\u201d broke out, before confessing that he jabbed Brown, the culmination of simmering tension brought about by competition for places in squad. Jones unceremoniously ditched both players,<\/a> sending the rest of his squad \u2013 who went on to reach the final in Japan \u2013 a clear message.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a whole lot of guys who were fighting for spots and when you\u2019re doing that, things get a little sticky,\u201d says Te\u2019o. \u201cAfter too many drinks sometimes that spills over. My regret would be that after a few drinks the confrontation happened whereas it should have just happened before. You should have approached it before you had the drinks, because that blurs the line.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it galvanised the group and if I was Eddie I would have done the same thing. I don\u2019t think Browny was going anyway, I was teetering on not going because I had torn my calf earlier in the camp. Maybe Eddie saw an opportunity, get these two out of here right now, set a standard, make a statement to the rest of the team and put everyone on notice. It worked.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben Te\u2019o and Eddie Jones in 2017. Photograph: Adrian Dennis\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Almost immediately Te\u2019o signed for Toulon<\/a>. He was criticised for doing so, for jumping ship, but he wants to set the record straight about his swift exit to the Top 14. Complicating matters, his contract with Worcester had expired and he was a free agent. \u201cThe backstory is I was having issues with the RFU about pay and insurance,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was getting to the point where I was going to pull out. It kept on going, Eddie was saying it would get sorted and then we have this issue [with Brown] and I\u2019m out [of the squad]. So I\u2019m thinking, I\u2019m [off] because they had not made it easy for me at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Te\u2019o\u2019s eyes light up when recalling his three years in England. Once he had set his heart on union he initially held talks with Michael Cheika about playing for the Wallabies, but Te\u2019o wanted to broaden his horizons and so the recently departed Leicester head coach arranged a two-year stint with Leinster.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in a team with a lot of good people,\u201d says Te\u2019o. \u201cFrom going from league to union I had never spent so much time with my teammates. I roomed with Kyle Sinckler and I feel like I lived with Kyle for three years. And I learned so much from Eddie. I\u2019m sitting here as the assistant coach of the Brisbane Broncos. I think I\u2019m only here because of the time I spent with Eddie.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the majority of the time I thought I was a really good impact player. Eddie had that phrase, he used to call us the Finishers. It was Mako [Vunipola], Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, George Ford, me and Danny Care and we used to fly off that bench for the last 20 minutes of the game and smash it. We didn\u2019t mind being the Finishers.\u201d<\/p>\n In the middle of his England career came the 2017 Lions tour of New Zealand. Te\u2019o finished with 20 England caps but his form in New Zealand \u2013 where he grew up \u2013 saw him add two more for the Lions in the drawn series. \u201cI never thought I was going to be a British & Irish Lion,\u201d he adds. \u201cI was probably at the back of the line and I do feel like I played my way into the team. I was proud of that. My mother is English, I had gone over [to England] purely to play rugby, I then had the opportunity to represent her and ended up in the Lions squad.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben Te\u2019o playing for the Lions against New Zealand in 2017. Photograph: David Rogers\/Getty Images<\/p>\n As with Jones, Te\u2019o waxes lyrical about Warren Gatland and believes it was inevitable that Andy Farrell \u2013 assistant in 2017 \u2013 would one day replace him as Lions head coach. \u201c[Warren] was unbelievable. Now that I\u2019m a bit older and I sit back I think he\u2019s one of the best coaches I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n I wonder if the 2013 Lions tour might have sowed the union seed in Te\u2019o\u2019s mind. He does not think so \u2013 interestingly, he believes it did for Sam Burgess \u2013 but Te\u2019o recalls avidly watching his close friend Israel Folau announce himself on the global union stage and is struck by the similarities between him and Joseph Suaalii.<\/p>\n \u201cIzzy and Joseph are very similar,\u201d adds. \u201cFrom a rules point of view, probably raw but from an athletic point of view, exceptional. Big, long, fast, unbelievable in the air. They\u2019re the same thing. I reckon [Joseph\u2019s] best position will eventually be full-back. You want him touching the ball in more space.\u201d<\/p>\n Te\u2019o\u2019s time in Toulon was ill-fated. He was released early on Christmas Eve, spent the night packing and flew back to Australia on Christmas Day. It goes down as one of the many lessons that Te\u2019o is now putting to use as a coach, a transition that came about after Covid curtailed his stint with the Sunwolves in Japan and precipitated a move back to the Broncos, first as a player, now as an assistant coach.<\/p>\n \u201cI just started to think about all the things I had learned on my travels,\u201d says Te\u2019o. \u201cBeing at Worcester, there were some real lessons I learned about always being in a relegation battle. Then being with Eddie and understanding how he would see things tactically and from a psychological point of view, thinking about how Warren brought together a team. So I started thinking to myself: \u2018I know a fair bit, it would be a waste if I didn\u2019t teach it to someone else.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n For now Te\u2019o is settled in Brisbane with a young family but at some point in the future he would like to travel again and coach in union. The 15-man code is ailing in Australia at present but having grown up in New Zealand, where union remains a religion, it is clear Te\u2019o still has a deep connection with the sport.<\/p>\n Ben Te\u2019o playing for the Queensland Maroons in the State of Origin series against New South Wales Blues in 2013. Photograph: Mark Metcalfe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cUnion, it\u2019s really fading over here,\u201d he adds. \u201cMost kids aspire to be rugby league players. People have to understand that rugby league is in your face, it\u2019s everywhere. If you pick up the paper, it\u2019s rugby league. Turn on the TV, league, social media, league. All the podcasts, league. It\u2019s everywhere and rugby union is just not.<\/p>\n \u201cI love both games. I love union more, to be honest, as a game, when it\u2019s played the right way. I don\u2019t want to be one of those people that says \u2018back in my day\u2019 but Super 12 rugby was phenomenal. As a kid growing up in New Zealand it was phenomenal.<\/p>\n \u201cRugby league is a great foundation as a coach so I\u2019ll stay here but my long-term goal is to travel and coach rugby union. When I first retired from footy, I also coached a second XV side at a local college up the road. Honestly, coaching the second XV was more fun than you could imagine. If union is played in an entertaining way, you can\u2019t beat it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Te\u2019o emerges from Brisbane Broncos\u2019 headquarters, umbrella in one hand and walking a little gingerly. 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