Cooper Vuna relishing Sixways link with League buddy Ben Te’o
As 12-year-olds in Auckland, Vuna and England centre hopeful Te’o trialled for the local League team and spent five years playing together before going their separate ways, with the latter heading to Australia and a stellar career in NRL.
Now the pair have been reunited at Sixways and winger Vuna, right, is convinced Te’o will make a huge impact in next season’s Premiership.
He told The Rugby Paper: “Benny and I got on really well as kids. We were both wingers when we started in Auckland and I ended up staying there while he pushed inside a bit more and eventually moved into the forwards.
“It’s been a while since we played together, but we both started in U13s in trials for the Auckland League team and played together right through until we were 17 or 18 before he moved to Australia and joined the Wests Tigers.
“I played for New Zealand Warriors and then joined the Newcastle Knights, but we haven’t seen much of each other since I left the NRL in 2010 so it’s good to have the old buddy back in the same team at Worcester.”
Vuna believes Te’o, who was included by Eddie Jones in England’s tour party in Australia, can help turn Warriors into contenders.
He added: “Benny’s a big, physical guy and seeing him in his League days playing next to Sam Burgess, it was hard to stop the force when they were both rolling.
“He carried that on at Leinster and as soon as we get him into the Premiership and get him the ball, he’ll do some serious damage down the middle. It’ll be good to have him in our team and he’s going to be a player to watch. I just hope he passes me the ball so I can score some tries!”
Vuna bagged nine five-pointers in 21 Premiership games last season – a creditable tally that confirmed his status as a leading dangerman.
The shock summer departure of rugby director Dean Ryan came as a blow, but Vuna insists it will not be allowed to derail Worcester’s season. Vuna said: “To hear Dean was leaving was sad. He was a massive key for our club and the one that brought all of us foreigners over here.
“We’re disappointed that he’s gone and he did set up a plan for everyone that the players who are playing week-in, week-out bought into, but to have Carl Hogg stepping straight in is awesome and he’s doing a good job getting us ready.
“It would be easy to let Dean’s departure upset things, but it’s the same team, we’ve got good recruits and it’s a case of head down, backside up.
“It comes down to the players how much we want out of this season and we feel we can do a good job and get ahead of teams like Bath and Gloucester. I personally think we can get in and around the top six and see where we go from there.”
Vuna, 29, switched allegiance from Australia to Tonga over the summer in a bid for Olympic Sevens glory.
Tonga failed to qualify but Vuna is now available for 15s selection, adding: “It’ll be a different ride but it’s something I’m really looking forward to.
“Tonga have got three November Tests in Europe and then there’ll be trips away each summer, so my goal is to play in the 2019 World Cup.”
