New England recruit Ben Te’o failed to successfully round off his two-year rugby union apprenticeship on Saturday night, as fancied Leinster were trounced in the Pro12 decider by fellow Irish side Connacht, the surprise first-time finalists.

Eligible for Eddie Jones’ squad through his English mother and his imminent move to Premiership side Worcester, the New Zealand-born Samoan rugby league international struggled to impress until it was too late at Murrayfield.

The centre was unable to provide convincing evidence that he will be of benefit to England on their Australian tour following his 20-month, 40-game cross-code tuition in Ireland.

Ben Te'o will join up with England next week ahead of featuring on their summer Test tour to Australia

Te'o was unable to help Leinster to a Pro12 final victory as they were beaten by Connacht at Murrayfield

A 2014 NRL title winner with the maligned Sam Burgess at the Sydney Rabbitohs, Te’o had bounced back from breaking his arm just 20 minutes into his Leinster debut and looked to be in form after providing the off-load for Jamie Heaslip to grab the crucial try in last weekend’s semi-final win over Ulster.

But suffering from hit-and-miss tackling in the decider, he couldn’t prevent three-try Connacht from winning their first-ever trophy in their 131-year history just 13 years after the IRFU threatened to disband them to save money.

First-half tries from Tiernan O’Halloran and Niyi Adeolokun laid the foundation for a 15-0 interval lead, and Connacht added to this advantage through Matt Healy on 57 minutes.