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Ben Te'o
Ben Te'o (born 27 January 1987) is a former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who last played as a second-rower for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and is currently an assistant coach at the Broncos. He previously played for both the Wests Tigers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs with whom he won the 2014 NRL Grand Final. Te'o also played at representative level for Queensland in the State of Origin series and Samoa at international level. Between 2014 and 2020 he played professional rugby union, featuring as a centre at international level for England and the British & Irish Lions. BackgroundTe'o was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His father is Samoan and his mother is English. He was a Hibiscus Coast Raiders junior, and was selected to play for the New Zealand Under 16s in 2003 and was also a member of the 2005 Junior Kiwis. He also played rugby union as a junior. Te'o moved to Australia at the age of 17 and lived on the Gold Coast in Queensland, playing rugby league with Keebra Park State High School.[2] Rugby league careerWests TigersIn the 2007 NRL season Te'o debuted for the Wests Tigers in Round 9 against the St George Illawarra Dragons, and scored his first try in first grade the next week against the New Zealand Warriors. Te'o played 14 games and scored 2 tries in the 2007 season. In September 2007, he was called into the New Zealand national rugby league team train-on squad with several other Wests Tigers players but was not selected for the tour of Great Britain.[3][4] Te'o played 22 games and scored 8 tries in the 2008 NRL season.  He was named in the Samoa squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[5] He was overlooked for the first two Samoa matches, but made his international debut on 9 November at CUA Stadium against France, scoring two tries.[6] Brisbane BroncosTe'o signed with the Brisbane Broncos for the 2009 season.[7][8] He made his debut for the Broncos at second row in Round 1 against the North Queensland Cowboys Te'o played 18 games and scored 4 tries in his first year for the Broncos in 2009. [citation needed] In May 2010, he was named in the Queensland Maroons squad to play against the Blues. Te'o pledged his allegiance to the Australia and the Maroons being named as the 18th man for Game 1. It was announced on 5 June 2010, that Te'o had signed a contract extension which would see him remain at the Broncos until the end of the 2012 season. [citation needed] On 2 May 2012, it was announced Te'o had agreed to terms with the South Sydney Rabbitohs up until the end of the 2015 NRL season.[9] Later that year, he was selected to make Origin debut for the Maroons in game 3. South Sydney RabbitohsTe’o joined the Rabbitohs in 2013. Te’o represented Queensland and was selected in the Australian squad in 2012. Keen to establish himself as a starting forward in the Rabbitohs pack in 2013. Te'o played all three games of the 2013 State of Origin series from the interchange bench, helping Queensland extend their record for consecutive series victories to eight. In the 2014 pre-season Te'o played for the Rabbitohs in the 2014 NRL Auckland Nines tournament. He played from the interchange bench in all three games of the 2014 State of Origin series, which Queensland lost. Te'o scored a crucial try against the Sydney Roosters in the semi-final of the 2014 NRL finals series, upon returning from suspension for a chicken wing tackle on Sam Thaiday.[10] On 4 June 2014, Te'o announced that he would be leaving the Rabbitohs at the end of the season.[11] Te'o played in the Rabbitohs premiership winning side in the 2014 NRL Grand Final. Return to Brisbane Broncos 2020 and retirement in 2021On 4 June 2020, Te'o returned to the Brisbane Broncos, signing with the club for the rest of the 2020 season.[12] He has been re-signed for 2021 as part of the Broncos' 30-man squad.[13] On 19 August 2021, Te'o announced that he was retiring at the end of the season. He played his last game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in round 5 of the 2021 season. He retired immediately once the season was over. Rugby union careerLeinsterOn 12 August 2014, Leinster announced Te'o had signed to play for them after the end of the 2014 NRL season.[14] Te'o broke his arm within the first twenty minutes of his Leinster professional debut. After only three weeks he was named in the starting squad for Leinster after coach Matt O'Connor described him as an outstanding athlete.[15] Worcester WarriorsOn 22 December 2015, Te'o signed with English club Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership from the 2016–17 season.[16] ToulonOn 21 August 2019, Te'o signed with French side RC Toulonnais.[17] SunwolvesIn 2020, Te'o signed with Japanese Super Rugby club the Sunwolves. He left the club after the cancellation of the 2020 Super Rugby season. InternationalIn May 2016 Te'o was called up by England coach Eddie Jones for the tour of Australia.[18] He scored his first England try after coming on as a replacement against France on 4 February 2017.[19] He made his international starting debut on 26 February 2017, against Italy during the Six Nations. Te'o played in the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand. He started the first test at inside centre. Te'o returned from injury to start his second test for England against Italy in the opening round of the Six Nations and went on to feature in all of England's 2018 Six Nations matches.[20] International tries
ControversyIn 2013, Te'o was cleared of assault after an altercation at a home in Brisbane.[22] He claimed a woman attacked him with a stiletto and he acted in self-defence. The woman was left unconscious.[23] Footnotes
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