Ben Te'o injury leaves England with South Africa tour selection dilemma
Eddie Jones faces a dilemma over how to set up his midfield on England’s tour of South Africa after Ben Te’o was ruled out with a quad injury that requires surgery.
Te’o has joined striplings Jack Willis and Cameron Redpath on the injury list and the trio have been replaced in the 34-man squad by Nathan Hughes, Piers Francis and Jason Woodward, the uncapped Kiwi-born outside back.
Te’o is the eighth of England’s tourists from last summer to miss this trip. In all, Jones’s absent player count has risen to 24, although some of those on his list are uncapped and the Springboks are without some vital players too, including hooker Malcolm Marx, lock Eben Etzebeth and No8 Warren Whiteley.
The absence of Te’o raises a pair of awkward questions for Jones.
First, why do players keep picking up injuries in England camps?
Te’o is the fifth player this year and 12th overall to have been injured on training duty.
Last week, Beno Obano, the young Bath prop, was ruled out for a year, while the worst case was Sam Jones, who was forced to retire in March after being injured while taking part in a judo session in 2016.
Sam Underhill, Anthony Watson and George Kruis - all missing the tour - are among others to have picked up injuries in recent times.
Second, and more immediately, the head coach must try to configure his best back line.
England squad for South Africa tour
M Brown (Harlequins), D Cipriani (Wasps), L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter), T Curry (Sale Sharks), E Daly (Wasps), B Earl (Saracens), N Earle (Saracens), O Farrell (Saracens), G Ford (Leicester), P Francis (Northampton), E Genge (Leicester), J George (Saracens), J Hill (Exeter), N Hughes (Wasps), N Isiekwe (Saracens), M Itoje (Saracens), J Launchbury (Wasps), A Lozowski (Saracens), J Marler (Harlequins), J May (Leicester), C Robshaw (Harlequins), D Robson (Wasps), B Shields (Hurricanes/Wasps), S Simmonds (Exeter), K Sinckler (Harlequins), H Slade (Exeter), D Solomona (Sale Sharks), B Spencer (Saracens), B Vunipola (Saracens), M Vunipola (Saracens), H Williams (Exeter), M Wilson (Newcastle), J Woodward (Gloucester), B Youngs (Leicester)
Te’o had been expected to start at centre in the absence of Jonathan Joseph. Elliot Daly believes outside centre to be his best position, but Jones seems to fancy him more as an outside back. Henry Slade and Alex Lozowski now shape as ball-playing options at 13, while captain Owen Farrell may shift back to No12 from fly-half, creating space for George Ford or even Danny Cipriani.
