Leinster Rugby Confirm Signing of Ben Te'o

[johng]

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/news/12236.php#.U-nI6qP0ejs

Wish him the best. Good to see we are going in a totally different direction than "trying to replace Drico"

Hope it goes well. I would say it will take time. Time he sadly won't be given by some fans, but hey. Opinions are like aHoles. Everybody's got one.

[Logorrhea]

Good news. I wish him all the best.

[fourthirtythree]

Excellent, provides an option we are lacking in the back line. Pity he won't be her for a while as we could do with him getting up to speed right away. Do we know how long for? Or is it full of caveats.

[deco]

Good signing. The only negative being the inevitable whingefest by a few posters repeating themselves ad nauseum.

[offshorerules]

Excellent, provides an option we are lacking in the back line. Pity he won't be her for a while as we could do with him getting up to speed right away. Do we know how long for? Or is it full of caveats.

Just when his team's season is over, if they get to the final that could be a while but not sure how long.

5th October apparently.

[johng]

Mat O'C is not into giving out contract lengths. I'd say it is a year with an option of a 2 year extension if both parties are happy

[rdsblue]

Mat O'C is not into giving out contract lengths. I'd say it is a year with an option of a 2 year extension if both parties are happy

Te'o has some indiscipline baggage from the past on and off the pitch so a shorter contract mightn't be a bad thing from that point of view. Hopefully he's got all the James O'Connor type stuff out of his system now.

[goreyguy]

great.

[Flakey 16]

An interesting signing and I wish him the best of luck in the Leinster jersey.

[Peg Leg]

Welcome back John! Silly Seasons over.
Delighted we've managed to sign some level of cover given the yr that's in it.
D'Arce, Te'o, Reid, Madigan, Macken, Kirch and the young lads should see us having enough options to change up the style of play as we need to, throughout the season.

[goreyguy]

MOC isn't capable of changing it up that much, he has his bosher now.. time to go full Leicester rugby mode.
No finesse only bosh.

[ceemec]

No finesse only bosh.

Ironically, that's almost a perfect way to describe your posting style on MOC. Hammer the same point over and over and over with no deviation or subtlety.

[goreyguy]

No finesse only bosh.

Ironically, that's almost a perfect way to describe your posting style on MOC. Hammer the same point over and over and over with no deviation or subtlety.

posting style reflects the predictability of Leinster rugby

[curates_egg]

At least we signed someone, even if it is most likely only a very temporary fix until after the world cup.
I will try and keep an open mind, watching a player who is learning to play the sport at the top level.

Meanwhile, I hope he learns how to tackle...anyone who can knock Sonny Bill backwards must have some potential:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyESCn9I0vo

[AdamK]

I'm happy. We needed someone, anyone, to give guys like Darce and Madigan a break.

A Reid/T'eo midfield during the pro12 international windows could actually be great.

Let's give the guy a chance.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Very curious as to who will start the season at 13 then. Te'o won't arrive for a while and supposedly Luke will return on the wing, at least initially, not sure about long term.

[ratpack]

I always apply the mantra that a new player or coach deserves ten games under their belts before I form a firm opinion on them, Ben Te'o will be no different.

The fact that he's played Union before is a positive and I think he could give us something different. Best of luck to him!

[ceemec]

Very curious as to who will start the season at 13 then. Te'o won't arrive for a while and supposedly Luke will return on the wing, at least initially, not sure about long term.

By process of elimination, I think Macken will get a couple of starts there. I'd love to see Kirchner get a couple of goes there to see if he's really an option now that he's finally got a full pre-season and appears to be done with SA.

After the first 3 or 4 rounds though, I think D'Arcy will come into the jersey and be a safe pair of hands for the two European games until Te'o gets his first start which, going on how his NRL season is going, will probably be at the end of October (he'll be here before then but he'll hardly be getting any starts in Europe at that point).

[goreyguy]

I always apply the mantra that a new player or coach deserves ten games under their belts before I form a firm opinion on them, Ben Te'o will be no different.

The fact that he's played Union before is a positive and I think he could give us something different. Best of luck to him!

Gavin Duffy played GAA before too. Teo experience at Union is tiny for a pro player, luckily he will only be asked to do one thing for Leinster, bosh it up the middle and attempt to offload. Hopefully he can learn to tackle properly and straightens up off the field.

[Peg Leg]

Comparatively speaking Te'o can be no worse than the following:
Berquist
Berne
Goodman