Te’o put to the test with sta rting role in pa rtnership with Fa rrell
BEN TE’O will start a Te st for the time afte r be ingname d at outside ce ntre for England’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy at Twicke nham tomorrow.
Te ’o re place s Jonathan Jose ph, who has be e n omitte d from the matchday 23 , to form a ne w-look ce ntre partne rship with Owe n Farre ll afte r winningall five of his pre vious caps off the be nch.
Worce ste r’s hard-runningrugby le ague conve rt made te lling contributions duringlate came os against France and Wale s and he ad coach Eddie Jone s wants to se e what impact he might have as a starte r.
“Be n Te ’o at 13 give s us anothe r way of playingthe game and we are e xcite d about se e inghim, Ge orge Ford and first Owe n Farre ll play toge the r in the midfie ld,” Jone s said.
Ge orge Ford continue s to pull the strings at fly-half but he starts alongside a ne w half-back partne r in Danny Care , who has swappe d place s with Be n Youngs.
The two re mainingchange s to the te am that topple d Wale s 21-16 in Cardiff se e Jonny May re store d to the right wing, forcingJack Nowe ll on to the be nch, and Jame s Haske ll re turn at ope nside .
It will be Haske ll’s first start since last summe r’s triumphant tour to Australia afte r a se ve n-month abse nce be cause of foot surge ry.
Haske ll was also a significant contributor to the late wins against France and Wale s, makingstrong carrie s, and the powe rful Wasps ve te ran is re warde d with his re turn to the back row in place of Jack Clifford.
He nry Slade make s an appe arance on the be nch whe re he offe rs midfie ld cove r, but the re is no place amongthe 23 for Anthony Watson de spite his re cove ry from a hamstringinjury.
“Be n Youngs has be e n outstanding for us at No.9, but Danny Care ge ts the startingje rse y this we e k,” Jone s said. “For the first half he ’ll give us a lot of spe e d and runningat the base of the ruck as we ll as the scrum. Be n will the n come on and finish the game .
“Tom Wood has be e n gre at for us at se ve n and Jack Clifford did we ll against Wale s but Jame s Haske ll has the startingrole .
“Jame s has come back to a much be tte r le ve l of fitne ss and we are sure his e xplosive actions will he lp us in the first part of the game .”
England are targe tinga 17th succe ssive Te st victory, a total that would le ave the m one short of the world re cord 18 wins e stablishe d by Ne w Ze aland.
Italy have be e n poor so far in this Six Nations, conce ding96 points in the ope ningtwo rounds alone , and Jone s last we e k orde re d his playe rs to “take the m to the cle ane rs”.
World playe r of the ye ar nomine e Farre ll will le ad the te am out at Twicke nham in re cognition of his 50th cap. “It is an important Te st match for us and our only conside ration is to play we ll,” Jone s said. “Italy have a proud re cord in Te st rugby, the y be at South Africa in Nove mbe r, and we will not unde re stimate the m.
“I know the Twicke nham crowd will give Owe n Farre ll a bigche e r. To re ach 50 caps at such a youngage is a fine achie ve me nt.
“The one thingI know about Owe n is that his ne xt 50 are goingto be more impre ssive than his first.”