POWERFUL Ben Te’o can stake his claims for an England spot when he starts for Worcester Warriors in their European Challenge Cup clash against Brive at Sixways tomorrow (3pm).

The inside centre was Warriors’ highest-profile arrival in the summer and is in the reckoning for a place in Eddie Jones’ England squad for their autumn international series starting against South Africa on November 12.

The former Leinster star has only made three appearances for Warriors after suffering concussion in their Premiership M5 derby against Gloucester.

The 29-year-old came off the bench in Warriors’ 34-13 league defeat at Leicester Tigers.

Warriors expect their lowest home gate of the season but Te’o’s surprise inclusion in their ranks, along with fit-again fullback Chris Pennell, could swell the ranks.

They collected a losing bonus point from a 19-12 defeat to Russian minnows Enisei-STM in their Pool Three opener in Moscow last Saturday.

Worcester finished bottom of their European group last term and have not won in the competition since beating La Rochelle 19-3 at Sixways last November.

Brive have won four of their opening eight Top 14 matches but crashed 37-16 at Pro-12 Newport Gwent Dragons in their first European outing last weekend.

Warriors last played Brive at Sixways in April 2009 when Marcel Garvey’s stunning brace sealed Worcester’s spot in the semi-finals after a 29-18 triumph.

Backs coach Sam Vesty is overseeing Worcester’s European campaign and says it’s “important”

his side get off the mark against a “very dangerous” Brive.

“I think it’s important to get a win but it is going to be a tough ask,” said Vesty.

“They are a very strong and typically French team who are certainly no mugs and we will learn off the back of it.

“They have big forwards who can play a really slow game of rugby and are very physical.

“However, suddenly, they could have a guy running down the wing and breaking a game wide open, so they have some very dangerous players.”

Vesty said he was “still pretty frustrated” Warriors were not clinical enough in their loss in Russia.

“We created enough opportunities but it was probably down to a little bit of naivety that comes with having a young group in a foreign country under trying circumstances,”said Vesty.

“It’s still frustrating because I know how good the guys can be and the frustration comes when we create opportunities and don’t quite get over the line.

“If we win (against Brive), we will learn and if we lose we will learn and get better. That’s the key message we will be sending out this weekend.”

Tom Heathcote, Andrew Kitchener and Zac Xiourouppa are also handed starting berths to take on the French side.

Warriors:

Pennell; Short, Stelling, Te’o, Adams; Heathcote, Baldwin; Bower, Williams, Daniels, Kitchener, Scotland-Williamson, Taylor, Xiourouppa, Cox. Replacements: Singleton, Appiah, Alo, Hewitt, Smith, de Cothi, Shillcock, Hammond.

Brive:

Lapeyre; Ngwenya, Mignardi, Burotu, Namy; Laranjeira, Lobzhanidze; Devisme, Ribes, Bekoshvili, Uys, Snyman, Luafutu, Hireche, Whetton. Replacements: Acquier, Lavergne, Buys, Mela, Narisia, Delarue, Bezy, Masilevu.