LAST MAN STANDING

England’s Te’o paid for intensive treatment to avoid being ANOTHER major crock ahead of a Six Nations tournament hit by injury withdrawals

BEN TE’O has told how he spent thousands of pounds of his own money to remove himself from rugby’s mile-long casualty list.

The Six Nations kicks off a week today with every team in the tournament weighed down by massive injury concerns.

England have 16 crocks ahead of their opener in Italy, including Billy Vunipola, Elliot Daly, Nathan Hughes and Jack Nowell.

Wales count Sam Warburton, Jonathan Davies, Taulupe Faletau, Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb among a similar number in various states of disrepair.

And in Dublin, Edinburgh, Rome and Paris, physios and doctors are working overtime to deal with identical problems.

Lions centre Te’o faced being among the broken for a championship which runs for seven weeks – until he took matters into his own hands.

After undergoing surgery to have plates and screws inserted in his ankle he took himself to Australia for six weeks of rehab.

“I picked up the tab,” he revealed. “I flew to Brisbane and enlisted a highly-experienced physio and trainer so the full focus was on me. Sometimes when you’re rehabilitating at a club, there are other players too and you need to fit in.

“There it was all tailored towards me. I tidied up the diet and dropped a couple of kilos.

“I was training-resting-training and had an ice machine pretty much attached to me.

“Physios, trainers, flights, food – it cost thousands, but it was worth it.”

Te’o’s commitment paid off with the 30-year-old set to join Eddie Jones (above) and the England squad in Rome.

But he knows injury is more than ever an occupational hazard – and admits it is a growing concern.

“It’s a physical game and it’s getting more physical,” he said. “There are big boys playing a lot of rugby.

“While I hope the rate of attrition won’t get worse, guys will keep getting stronger and finding better ways to train and get more powerful and fitter.

“You can talk about how many games we play and I’m sure the players’ association is trying to figure that stuff out as you want the superstars out there playing, not on the sidelines.

“But it’s part and parcel of being a rugby player. The flip side of being able to play this great game as a professional is that every now and then you have to deal with a six or 12-week injury.”