Leinster Confirm Te’o’s Departure
Leinster Rugby have this morning confirmed that their centre Ben Te’o has joined Worcester Warriors and will leave Leinster at the end of the current campaign.
Ben Te’o has played 23 times for Leinster, scoring five tries, since his move from the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the end of the 2013/14 season having just secured the NRL title with the rugby league club.
He broke his arm on his Leinster debut against Edinburgh in October 2014 but still went on to play a further 12 times last season, including the European Champions Cup quarter-final against Bath and the semi-final against Toulon.
To date this season he has over 700 minutes to his name, lining up at outside centre on ten occasions and scoring one try. Most recently, he played at the Aviva Stadium in the Pool 5 game against Toulon last Saturday.
Te’o, who had only recently expressed a desire to play international rugby at some stage in his career, will see out the current season with Leinster before making the move to Sixways. Although born in Auckland, he is eligible to play for England on his mother’s side.
Speaking to leinsterrugby.ie, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said: “Although disappointed that Ben is leaving, on behalf of everyone at Leinster Rugby, we would like to wish him the very best with his move to Worcester and indeed with his quest to play international rugby.
“Ben is a very popular player within the group and we believe that he can still play a big part in our season. He showed in his last season with the Rabbitohs that he has the skill set to apply himself brilliantly in delivering some big performances on the way to helping his club win the NRL title in the full knowledge that he was joining Leinster.”
Te’o said of his move to the Aviva Premiership club: “Warriors are in a very similar stage in their playing and cultural development that I found when I first joined the Rabbitohs and I look forward to making a similar contribution at Sixways.
“The investment in facilities and infrastructure is impressive and after speaking with Dean Ryan, it is clearly a club which is on the up. Everything is in place for Worcester to become a successful club competing in the top tier and I’m excited about getting started at Sixways.
“Finally I’d like to thank Leinster Rugby for giving me the opportunity to go back to rugby union and to the fans for their support in particular when out injured. I look forward to finishing the season with Leinster as strong as possible.”