Ben Te'o (born 27 January 1987) is a former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who last played as a er for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and is currently an assistant coach at the Broncos. He previously played for both the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

and the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

with whom he won the

2014 NRL Grand Final The 2014 NRL Grand Final was the concluding and premiership-deciding match of the 2014 NRL season. Played on the evening of Sunday 5 October 2014 at ANZ Stadium, the match was contested by the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury-Bankstown ...

. Te'o also played at representative level for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two States and territories of Australia, Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales Blues and the Queensland ru ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at international level. Between 2014 and 2020 he played professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, featuring as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

at international level for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

Background

Te'o was born in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. 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 The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

. 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.

Rugby league career

Wests Tigers

In the

2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...

Te'o debuted for the

in Round 9 against the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

, and scored his first try in first grade the next week against the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

. 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 The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

train-on squad with several other Wests Tigers players but was not selected for the tour of Great Britain. Te'o played 22 games and scored 8 tries in the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The sea ...

. He was named in the

squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. He was overlooked for the first two Samoa matches, but made his international debut on 9 November at

CUA Stadium Penrith Stadium, currently known as BlueBet Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthe ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, scoring two tries.

Brisbane Broncos

Te'o signed with the

for the 2009 season. He made his debut for the Broncos at second row in Round 1 against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

Te'o played 18 games and scored 4 tries in his first year for the Broncos in 2009. In May 2010, he was named in the

Queensland Maroons The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales rugby league tea ...

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. On 2 May 2012, it was announced Te'o had agreed to terms with the

up until the end of the 2015 NRL season. Later that year, he was selected to make Origin debut for the Maroons in game 3.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Te’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

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 Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an un ...

, which Queensland lost. Te'o scored a crucial try against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in the semi-final of the 2014 NRL finals series, upon returning from suspension for a chicken wing tackle on Sam Thaiday. On 4 June 2014, Te'o announced that he would be leaving the Rabbitohs at the end of the season. Te'o played in the Rabbitohs premiership winning side in the

Return to Brisbane Broncos 2020 and retirement in 2021

On 4 June 2020, Te'o returned to the

, signing with the club for the rest of the 2020 season. He has been re-signed for 2021 as part of the Broncos' 30-man squad. On 19 August 2021, Te'o announced that he was retiring at the end of the season. He played his last game against the

in round 5 of the 2021 season. He retired immediately once the season was over.

Rugby union career

Leinster

On 12 August 2014,

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

announced Te'o had signed to play for them after the end of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

. 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.

Worcester Warriors

On 22 December 2015, Te'o signed with English club

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

from the 2016–17 season.

Toulon

On 21 August 2019, Te'o signed with French side

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

Sunwolves

In 2020, Te'o signed with Japanese

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

club the

Sunwolves The Sunwolves ( Japanese: ) – previously known as the HITO-Communications Sunwolves for sponsorship reasons – were a professional rugby union team and Japan's representative team in SANZAAR's international Super Rugby competition. The team w ...

. He left the club after the cancellation of the

2020 Super Rugby season The 2020 Super Rugby season was the 25th season of Super Rugby, the international men's rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR involving teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the third tournament in i ...

International

In May 2016 Te'o was called up by England coach Eddie Jones for the tour of Australia. He scored his first England try after coming on as a replacement against France on 4 February 2017. 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.

International tries

Controversy

In 2013, Te'o was cleared of assault after an altercation at a home in Brisbane. He claimed a woman attacked him with a stiletto and he acted in self-defence. The woman was left unconscious.

Footnotes

External links

NRL profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Teo, Ben 1987 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Brisbane Broncos players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from New Zealand Dual-code rugby internationals England international rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Hibiscus Coast Raiders players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent People educated at Keebra Park State High School People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players RC Toulon players Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league second-rows Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Auckland Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sunwolves players Wests Tigers players Worcester Warriors players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players