Rugby: Uncontracted Ben Te'o focuses on World Cup

Ben Te'o spent three injury-plagued years at Worcester. Photo / Getty Images

A relaxed Ben Te'o cracks a beaming grin before adopting a tone of mock-earnestness.

"I'm very happy," he says, speaking slowly while pondering the point he has reached in his fascinating career. "I'm a happy guy. I'm quite content with what I've achieved — and that's not me saying, 'I've achieved it all, now I can sit back'.

"There are certain things I wanted in my career and I've got a few of them. I'm lucky. I'm 32 now, I'm still fit and healthy. That's a bonus."

Barring injury or a surprise exclusion, Eddie Jones will take Te'o to the World Cup as part of his 31-man England squad. The hefty, hard-running centre has been something of a safety blanket for the England coach the past three years.

When fit, Te'o has featured as an imposing gain-line general who has experienced some of the most intense occasions in either code.

An appearance for Samoa at the 2008 league World Cup preceded State of Origin outings for Queensland. In 2017, three years after returning to the 15-a-side arena, he became a Lion.

Te'o would travel to the World Cup as an unattached player, his lucrative three-year contract with Worcester Warriors having expired. It does not sound as if he will miss what he calls the "pushing and pulling" of England's unavoidable club-against-country politics. Indeed, he feels as though this is the first proper pre-season he has enjoyed since trading Leinster for Sixways in 2016.

"It's been an ... interesting journey," says Te'o of an injury-plagued 36-match stint with Worcester. The pause seems suspiciously pregnant.

"I think I learnt a lot about sporting organisations. It's not a secret that the club has been through a lot of change, whether that is from board or owners or coaches. The personnel kept ticking over and over.

"I would have loved to have played more games but injuries come around at different times. I'd be out injured and then I'd come back and be away on England duty."

Continually getting picked by Jones and accumulating 18 England caps has hardly been Te'o's fault and he points out his weighty pay packet — £1.125 million over three seasons — was offset by around £300,000 in credits returned to the Warriors.

"The fan doesn't know that. They just think, 'Where's he gone? We're getting nothing from him'. That's the way it works. I'm pretty thick-skinned. I know what's being said on the outside but it doesn't bother me."

Here is the crux. Te'o is a popular member of the England squad, with a dry sense of humour, and is a hard-edged professional. He has earned respect. External opinions do not bother him, and do not appear to perturb England squad-mates either.

Jones was a fan but did not guarantee anything when the pair chatted before Te'o crossed the Irish Sea.

"He said, 'If you sign for an English club, I'll take a look at you' — that's it," says Auckland-born Te'o, who qualifies to play for England via his mother, Linda.

Instant selection to tour Australia, before he had represented Worcester, might have suggested otherwise. But Te'o was not selected to play, instead using it as a chance to introduce himself while making the "transition" to a new environment, before a test debut five months later.

Te'o does not deny the World Cup has been a huge motivation. Again, though, there were no assurances.

"It was never like, 'I'm going there'. It was more, 'I'd love to go'. And you never know. If you get in the team and don't play well, you might never play in the jersey again."

There are rumours of big-money offers from Japan and Australia after the tournament. He has a poker face.

"Now I'm here, there's just one focus — going to Japan," Te'o says. "Once that's done, I can be like, 'okay, where am I at now? What's going to make me happy for the next few years'?'' One last grin. "I don't even know yet."