Six Nations 2018: Ben Te'o starts for England against Italy

By Chris JonesBBC Radio 5 live rugby reporter

Last updated on 2 February 2018.From the section English Rugby372

Italy v England
Dates: Sunday 4 February Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Coverage: Live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 live and online, live text commentary

Centre Ben Te'o has been preferred to Jonathan Joseph for England's Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on Sunday.

Te'o has been out since mid-October with an ankle injury and last played for England almost a year ago.

Sam Simmonds starts at number eight, alongside Courtney Lawes and Chris Robshaw in the back row.

"We are ready to go hunting against Italy," said England head coach Eddie Jones.

Te'o had been expected to miss the start of the Championship because of his ankle problem, but has made a surprise return to fitness following rehabilitation in Australia.

The 31-year-old hired trainers and physios from Brisbane Broncos - where he played for four season from 2009 - out of his own pocket.

Te'o will partner Owen Farrell in the midfield, with Ben Youngs and George Ford at half-back and Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Mike Brown in the back three.

Joseph, who started four of England's five matches in their 2017 Six Nations campaign, is among the replacements.

Brown has recovered from an eye complaint, while Jack Nowell is on the bench after recovering from his own ankle injury.

Nowell's Exeter team-mate Alec Hepburn is set to make his England debut from the bench.

"Our preparation over the last two weeks has been excellent and the players feel refreshed," Jones added.

"We know we need to get our set piece right, be defensively strong and play with aggression and plenty of energy."

England have won all 23 of their meetings with Italy, with their last four victories secured by a margin of more than 20 points.

Italy coach Conor O'Shea has named a side featuring several inexperienced players.

Flankers Renato Giammarioli and Sebastian Negri have three caps between them, while midfield partnership Tommaso Castello and Tommaso Boni have a total of just 13.

England team to face Italy:

Brown; Watson, Te'o, Farrell, May; Ford, Youngs; Vunipola, Hartley, Cole, Launchbury, Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Simmonds

Replacements: George, Hepburn, Williams, Kruis, Underhill, Care, Joseph, Nowell

Analysis

Former England fly-half Paul Grayson:

Ben Te'o's return from an ankle injury straight into the starting 15 signals coach Eddie Jones' determination to get the heavy-carrying centre into the heart of his team.

Te'o exiled himself to Australia to finance his own recovery and his immediate inclusion, after just a handful of Worcester appearances this season, marks him out as a virtually centrally-contracted player.

However Te'o was so good for the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand that Jones is convinced the well-travelled centre is the answer to a lack of physicality across England's skilful back division.

As the door opens wide for Te'o, you have to feel another door closes ever so slightly for the unfortunate Manu Tuilagi, whose last international start was way back in June 2014.

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372 comments

Comment posted by Briggadoon, at 10:31 2 Feb 2018
Did Ben Te’o not have the same surname when he played for the Lions in the summer ??
Can’t remember anyone questioning his heritage then ??
Comment posted by U3246151, at 11:39 2 Feb 2018
@55/56

Please don't do this. This scars every discussion, turning it into a dialogue of the deaf!

Ben T'eo is not qualified through residency. He is qualified by having a 100% English mum. He's a lot more qualified than O'Van de Flier or McVisser for instance using your criteria.

Please don't spoil yet another thread. Repeating something that's false doesn't make it true!
Comment posted by Trytastic, at 10:29 2 Feb 2018
4. Lawes' preferred position in blindside, and it gives him more freedom to roam around tackling anything that moves. a task he is probably one of the best in the world at. I suspect he and Itoje will be interchangeable as per last season. Robshaw is not flashy but is in the mould of Richard Hill, you don't see him or hear of him much, but the opposition certainly notice him.
Comment posted by jrstan, at 10:26 2 Feb 2018
His father is Samoan and his mother is English.
Comment posted by Waspboy, at 10:52 2 Feb 2018
I agree with all said about the backrow. We haven't had a balanced backrow to compare with the likes of Ireland or Wales for a decade (mainly due to the lack of an out & out 7) However if you are going to play 3 locks - what a trio to play. If Itoje or Lawes doesn't thump you, you can bet Launchbury will..... superb player!
Comment posted by Duffus , at 11:00 2 Feb 2018
Care, Joseph and Nowell are going to score a lot of points off the bench in the final 20 mins.
Comment posted by TheLastKingOfEngland, at 10:27 2 Feb 2018
How terrible are the BBC? No list of subs, it's on the England Rugby twitter account so not exactly difficult to get hold of, the link to their six nations preview, on the front page of their rugby page, takes you through to the preview of the 2017 Six Nations, talking about how Joe Marler has made a quick recovery from a broken leg. I mean just poor

@1 Te'o took his dad's surname not his Mum's
Comment posted by Trytastic, at 10:48 2 Feb 2018
16. Lawes out of form, what have you been smoking?? To para-quote Flats, "without Lawes, who has been awesome in every game for Saints, they would be in an even worse position". He has stood out in every game he has played, without him Saints would have been significantly worse. He is not a 4 playing 6, he is a 6 who often plays 4, actually playing where he prefers,
Comment posted by U16797528, at 13:03 2 Feb 2018
Lets stop the overseas argument folks it is irrelevant and non sense Scotland have woken up and exploiting the rules and so are every other 6N team, the all round champions(as I stated yesterday) are NZ they have almost always had 50% of the national team from the Pacific Islands. I believe they even have programmes that bring the potentials over while still at school. So please "SHUT UP !"
Comment posted by nocky, at 12:27 2 Feb 2018
@92 - of the starting 15, 12 were "born and bred" in England - that's 80% so a long way from "less than half of Team England will be born & bred Englishmen".

Of the other 3, 2 have English mothers so it's only Mako who comes in on residency.

Bring in Marler, George and Joseph for Mako, Hartley and Teo and the side would be 100% born in England. And, some might say, stronger too...
Comment posted by Leivapool, at 12:42 2 Feb 2018
My brother was born in Germany when my dad was posted out there in the Cold War. If you said to him he was German, he'd probably put you in hospital. This "Not born in Britain, so not British" thing is a load of tripe.
Comment posted by squeezemylemon, at 11:23 2 Feb 2018
@44 - I agree with you the BBC is an institution we should be proud of it. The malcontents will be pleased (I less so) that the England game will on ITV and as an alternative, where no doubt the commentators will sublimely comment on the play of 'Jim Nowell, Martin Vunipola, Brian T'eo, Gerald Ford and Mandy Brown.'

In the BBC and Eddie Jones we trust.
Comment posted by U16892273, at 10:29 2 Feb 2018
This is alright. Te'o carrying can make up for the (big) loss of Billy in the pack. Eddie keeping people on their toes - some bench players (Joseph, esp.) will probably be smarting for being dropped and will want to make an impact. And the new-ish faces will be keen to come on and make an impression. Simmonds' pace will be exciting too. Looking forward to Sunday.
Comment posted by KingofAbertawe, at 16:24 2 Feb 2018
198. Posted by p0mmieyardi

@197. I doubt you are ahead with the stomping you received from NZ in the last U20's.

.....

Your ignorance is astonishing. the reason eng were not as competitive as they should have been in the U20s final is because 5 of their best players were on the full eng tour to argentina. Would have creamed NZ with a full quota.
Comment posted by Jengibre, at 14:28 2 Feb 2018
There is absolutely no reason to respond to either 50 Cal or p0mmieyardi, they are not here to discuss rugby, but to insight petty arguments of no value. Every response, down vote is some small victory. Ignoring them is the best policy, it will leave them in a vacuum, they'll then get bored and go and do what ever else they do for kicks. Thanks.

Anyone know where you can see the Italian line up
Comment posted by KingofAbertawe, at 13:40 2 Feb 2018
140. Posted by fellared
on
25 minutes ago

England remind me of the old snooker player Eddie Charlton, he use to bore the opposition and the paying public to death as well
....

Oh well lets hope they never get too exciting then considering they were the top try scoring team in the 2017 6N
Comment posted by U3246151, at 12:38 2 Feb 2018
113 50 Cal

Well how about lying about the number of residency qualified players in England. Lying about the RFU actively recruiting in the SH etc.

The facts remain the facts. England has the lowest number of overseas players and you can't gainsay that no matter how belligerent you get. You can spoil 100 HYS's but it will still be c**p!

Your intellect terrifies me...;-)

Enough already!
Comment posted by Sully, at 19:30 2 Feb 2018
Good to see Te'o back but as an England fan Manu is the difference between a very good black line and a world class one. Same with Billy V for the pack.

The 6N should be great. 4 very good teams. France are a mystery.

From the southern continent only NZ that could win the 6N. Very strong tournament. Only the WC is stronger.

People who slate Farrell, talk to his peers, rated by them all
Comment posted by Nimrod2, at 16:19 2 Feb 2018
It amazes me how so many Welsh, Irish, Scots, Kiwis & Aussies are commenting on this match. I thought the first three have matches of their own to worry about.

Not to mention our Maltese supporter of Italy. Good to hear from you.
Comment posted by KingofAbertawe, at 16:17 2 Feb 2018
@222
Haha ok u still ain't getting wat I am saying are u see u only hoping bk to 2016 because u no for 12 year before that u didn't win anything and yes like I said before u u wasn't able to handle pressure till Eddie jones took charge another exsample 2015 World Cup England had pressure to react far and u couldn't

''''
wow, ive met invertebrates with abetter command of english

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