Te’o gets time off after his England exertions
WORCESTER centre Ben Te’o has flown home to New Zealand for a “break”.
Director of rugby Alan Solomons confirmed he held discussions with England boss Eddie Jones and felt it was an “appropriate” time for Te’o to “rest” before the festive fixtures.
The Auckland-born 31- year-old’s one and only outing for Worcester this term took place in late October when he came off the bench in the Challenge Cup victory over Ospreys.
Despite his lack of gametime due to injury Te’o started in three of England’s four autumn Tests.
Te’o missed Warriors’ Challenge Cup fixture against Pau yesterday and will miss the return leg on Saturday.
Solomons said Te’o would be avaiolable for the home clash with Northampton on December 21.
“Ben hadn’t had much rugby leading into the Test matches”, Solomons said.
“He had the 30 minutes with us against Ospreys and then he played in three massive Tests so both mentally and physically I thought a break at that stage was appropriate.”
Te’o has made just 25 appearances for Warriors since signing a deal worth a reported £366,000-a-year in 2016. But the marquee player has been hampered by injury.
Solomons added: “He has been injured a lot. The same thing happened last season. It was not his fault he was injured. He came back for the Six Nations and then he played a couple of games for us at the back end of the campaign.
“He got injured so he wasn’t available to play rugby until just before the autumn internationals.
“He has played three big games for England so under EPS ruling he has to have a break somewhere.”
Meanwhile, Worcester’s managing director Gus Mackay has left Sixways after 17 months with the Premiership club.
The former Zimbabwe international cricketer moves on following Warriors’ takeover by a consortium led by Worcestershire businessman Jed McCrory.
Full-back Chris Pennell received a two-week suspension for a dangerous tackle on Gloucester’s Charlie Sharples.
