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Home / Sport / Rugby

Te'o turning attentions to North Korea in downtime

By Mick Cleary
Daily Telegraph UK·
9 Feb, 2017 04:00 PM3 mins to read

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Ben Te'o. Photo / Ryan Byrne

Ben Te'o. Photo / Ryan Byrne

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The well-travelled Ben Te'o, England's try-scoring saviour against France, has other trips in mind, whether into a regular starting spot for his mother's native land or an adventure to North Korea to sort out the problems of that rogue country with his new teammate, Gloucester wing Jonny May.

Te'o comes from mixed stock, Samoan father and English mother from West Ham, and his less than straightforward journey to this point mirrors the eclectic nature of his sporting upbringing.

It might also account for the fact that rather than be bemused by May's own left-field inclinations, he is attracted to them, often finding himself in conversation with the player whose mother once gave music lessons to Ed Sheeran.

"We've been watching a lot of documentaries on North Korea," said Te'o, whose try against the French was the quickest by a Six Nations debutant. "We chat a lot about it and I sent him a few links on documentaries that he might be interested in.

"Jonny says we need to go there before things get really bad. I said I didn't know if it was worth it as it was quite dangerous there. Jonny said, 'I'm pretty keen on it.'?"

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All this was delivered in a wry, deadpan manner, so much so that it was impossible to decide just how serious Te'o was. What it does show, however, is that the 30-year-old has been fully integrated into a squad full of different types, who mesh well together, as shown by the manner in which, time and again, they have come through tricky situations to win.

Te'o is a popular figure, assured and down to earth to the point where fullback Mike Brown could publicly single him out him as the worst performer in the backline of the EyeGym drills conducted by new vision coach Sherylle Calder.

Te'o has improved since being a wild-card pick for the tour to Australia last summer despite having then yet to play for his Premiership club, Worcester Warriors, after signing from Leinster.

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Te'o, a Samoan rugby league international who played State of Origin for Queensland where had moved to from Auckland as a teenager, is the cross-code convert who looks to set to do for England what it was hoped Sam Burgess might achieve.

Like many New Zealand-reared kids, Te'o dabbled in both sports before focusing on league.

He has shown well from the bench in his four appearances, as he showed when running the right line on to Owen Farrell's pass to save the day for England last Saturday.

His temperament is sound. He will be unfazed by the tribal hoopla that surrounds a Wales-England fixture.

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