CENTRE Ben Te’o will be unavailable for Worcester Warriors’ next two games after flying to New Zealand for a “break”.

Director of rugby Alan Solomons confirmed he held discussions with England boss Eddie Jones and felt it was an “appropriate” time for Te’o to “rest” before coming back ahead of Warriors’ festive fixtures.

The Auckland-born 31-year-old’s one and only outing for Worcester this term took place in late October when he came off the bench in the European Challenge Cup victory over Ospreys.

Despite his lack of game-time due to injury Te’o was called up by England for the autumn internationals and started in three of their four Tests.

While 17 of the 23-man squad that faced Australia returned to Gallagher Premiership action at the weekend Te’o was given permission to visit his family in Auckland.

The British and Irish Lions star will miss Warriors’ back-to-back European Challenge Cup fixtures against Pau.

But Solomons said Te’o would be in the mix for selection for their Premiership home clash with Northampton Saints at Sixways on Friday, December 21.

“Ben hadn’t had much rugby leading into the Test matches,” Solomons said.

“He had the 30 minutes with us against Ospreys and then he played in three massive Tests so both mentally and physically I thought a break at that stage was appropriate.

“I have sorted out the rest time with Eddie so he has a break now and he will be back in time for the block of three Premiership games.”

Solomons added: “Ben has gone home to Auckland to see his family. 

“He will not have an opportunity to see them over Christmas because he is going to be here with us over that period.”

Te’o has made just 25 appearances for Warriors since signing a deal worth a reported £366,000-a-year in 2016.

But the marquee player has been hampered by injuries as he underwent an operation to fix a quadriceps tear this summer before suffering a calf issue.

“There is nothing much he could do,” said Solomons on why Te’o has rarely played for Worcester.

“He has been injured a lot. The same thing happened last season.

“It was not his fault he was injured. He came back for the Six Nations and then he played a couple of games for us at the back end of the campaign. 

“He got injured so he wasn’t available to play rugby until just before the autumn internationals.

“He has played three big games (for England) so under EPS ruling he has got to have a break somewhere.

“I would rather that he had the break over this (Gloucester) game and the European games and is back in time for consideration for the Premiership matches.”

Te’o also faces stiff competition from Ryan Mills, Francois Venter, Wynand Olivier and academy aces Ollie Lawrence and Will Butler for a place in Worcester’s midfield.

Asked whether Warriors would benefit from Te’o’s break, Solomons added: “I would hope so. 

“We have got good midfielders sitting here. Ollie will hopefully be fit to play against Pau (on Friday) and Will is back playing.

"We have also got Francois, Ryan, Wynand and Ben.”

“Our problem is certainly not lying in the midfield at the moment.”