Te’o blow England rocked as Worcester centre joins tour casualty list
Worcester centre misses tour with quad injury Northampton’s Francis drafted in as replacement
Ben Te’o has become the latest victim of England’s intense training sessions after being ruled out of the tour to South Africa with an injured quad muscle.
With Sale fly-half Cameron Redpath and Wasps flanker Jack Willis also withdrawing through injury, England head coach Eddie Jones has brought Northampton centre Piers Francis, Wasps No8 Nathan Hughes and uncapped Gloucester full-back Jason Woodward into his 34-man squad for the three Tests against the Springboks.
The injury to centre Te’o, which the Rugby Football Union insists is an aggravation of a pre-existing problem, will require surgery and will again raise questions around Jones’s notoriously brutal training methods. Bath loosehead prop Beno Obano may be out for up to a year after rupturing ligaments and muscles in his knee and hamstring two weeks ago during England’s Brighton training camp. At least 10 players have picked up serious injuries at training camps during Jones’s tenure, including five Bath players, which led club owner Bruce Craig to describe the attrition rate as “unacceptable”.
Most seriously, Sam Jones was forced to retire aged 26 this year after suffering an ankle injury while wrestling Maro Itoje in a judo session at a training camp in October 2016. The RFU could still face a lawsuit as the Wasps flanker did not receive the full safety briefing and was sent to hospital in a taxi.
The loss of Willis, who is set to be out for nine to 12 months after rupturing knee ligaments in the Premiership semi-final defeat by Saracens, and teenager Redpath, who had knee surgery last week, brings the number of absentees to 24.
Some of those include players whom Jones has decided to rest, with eight members of last year’s Lions series not making the trip.
The loss of Te’o is a particular blow to Jones’s plans, which were already starting to unfurl after three successive Six Nations losses were followed by a chastening 63-45 defeat by the Barbarians on Sunday. The Worcester centre provided a dynamic ball-carrying presence in the midfield. Speaking last week, Jones hinted that he was being “saved” for the first Test against South Africa at Ellis Park, where England have not won for 46 years, on Saturday week.
Francis, as Te’o’s replacement, is less of a gain-line breaker and more of a playmaker. Jones sees him in a similar mould to Owen Farrell and said of his two-try display against the Barbarians that “he had his best game I’ve seen since Argentina”, although he missed several tackles.
Assuming Jones reprises his 10-12 partnership of George Ford, who was co-captain against the Barbarians, and Farrell, then the outside-centre options appear to be limited to Henry Slade and Alex Lozowski, with Wasps’ Elliot Daly being earmarked as an outside back. Slade has had an excellent season for Exeter adding a physicality to his silky touches, although he did not reprise those heights in the Premiership final defeat to Saracens. Lozowski, too, has been a revelation since nailing down Saracens’ outside-centre position late in the season. Primarily a flyhalf, Lozowski has the game understanding of a stand-off but with the pace to exploit any gaps in the defensive line.
Light on experience and indeed power, England will have their work cut out in South Africa, where they are aiming to arrest their losing run and seal a first ever series win over the Springboks.