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The Jake Ball verdict on becoming re-eligible for Wales while in Japan
The last thing Jake Ball imagined happening following his move to Japan in the summer of 2021 was that he would become re-eligible for Wales selection less than two years later. A desire to be closer to his Perth-based family resulted in him quitting what he had come to know during his professional rugby career – every nook and cranny in Llanelli after nine years at the Scarlets as well as a 50-cap Test career with his adopted country.
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His last international appearance came off the bench away to Italy in the Six Nations with Wayne Pivac in charge, and he was resigned to that being the final outing of a Test career that began under Warren Gatland with a 2014 debut in Dublin against Ireland.
Rules were rules and with a player based outside Wales needing 60 caps in order to remain eligible for selection, Ball’s decision to take up a two-year deal with the NEC Green Rockets in Japan counted him out. Until now.
A consequence of the recent threatened Wales player strike was the alteration of the eligibility criteria, the 60-cap barrier getting shaved to 25 and theoretically making the soon-to-be 32-year-old Ball eligible to play Test rugby again.
Gatland, his international coach for six of his eight years involved, is back at the Welsh helm, so what is the current state of play – has there been any communication between the pair five months out from the start of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France?
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“No, no, I have had no contact so far,” he said over a Zoom from Japan, a briefing he chaired with Nathan Hughes as part of a look-ahead at the next round of League One fixtures. “Look, I’m just concentrating on being here and playing for NEC at the moment. If that were to happen that’s a conversation that might happen. I have had no contact so far.”
Ball featured at two previous World Cups under Gatland, acting as a squad player in 2015 before blossoming into a semi-final starter four years later versus South Africa. His final cap in Rome was his sole appearance in the title-winning 2021 Six Nations under Pivac, but he exited harbouring no regrets about calling it quits – and he still feels that very same way.
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“Look, I am really happy. I am very lucky to have been able to play international rugby. I feel like I have been able to achieve a few things there. I am happy with the way I left. The intention was never to come back and play for Wales when I left.
“I have had to make peace with the fact there was that 60-cap rule in place and I play never play for Wales again. In terms of that, I have made peace with it. I am enjoying playing here in Japan and hopefully I will stay on here for another few years.
“I’m really happy with what I achieved when I was in Wales. I have been lucky, I had a really good career there. There is nothing I would have done any different.”
Being in the Far East hasn’t stopped him from keeping abreast of the Welsh grapevine. He knows all about the recent contract wranglings, particularly as Ken Owens remains a firm friend, and whether or not Gatland ever gives him a call sounding out his selection availability, he is backing Wales for a World Cup upsurge in fortunes.
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“Definitely, definitely. You can never write Wales off. We are a dogged team and in terms of our history of World Cup, we have always performed pretty well,” he insisted before turning to all the rancour with the WRU.
“I still keep an eye; I talk to a fair few of the boys. It’s a shame to see some of the stuff that has gone on of late with the contracts and things but hopefully they come up with a decent solution and it all gets fixed up.
GO ROCKETS??
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“I’m fairly friendly with Ken Owens; I messaged him a couple of times. Look, it’s something that probably needed to happen with Welsh rugby as well there have been issues there for a little while and maybe out of this can come something quite good. That will be the hope, that there is a long-term solution for Welsh rugby.”
Ball has been inundated with Welsh players peppering him with questions about rugby life in Japan. “Yeah, quite a lot actually. I am not going to name any names. It’s difficult. The players are uncertain about their futures and have been told their salaries are being cut by a lot. That is a difficult situation for them to be in. It’s a tough time over there at the moment.”
The Far East has suited Ball, the Berkshire-born lock whose family emigrated with him as a teenager to Australia. His own young family is now also based in Parth and the commute from there to Japan has been manageable.
“It’s been great because of the way the season has been structured here, the opportunity I get. I had four months off-season as well back in Australia with my family. We tend to play for four weeks and then get a down week.
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— NEC?????????? /NEC GREEN ROCKETS TOKATSU (@nec_gr_official) January 24, 2023
“I have flown back to Perth and seen my family and then come back again. That is the way it is structured. They are actually over here at the moment. They are over in Japan for three and a half weeks through the school holidays, so it’s worked out really well.
Aside from this domestic bliss and his enjoyment of Japanese cuisine, the rugby is tough. The Chiba-based Rockets were never going to be an overnight success and with a restructure saving them from relegation after a winless first season with Ball, they have fared only slightly better the second year around.
“Look, it has been tough. NEC was a project; I knew that when I first arrived here. The first year I was here we didn’t actually win a game in the league, but we managed to avoid relegation and we have won two so far this year and could have picked up another couple of wins. We have got a fair bit of work to do on our squad to get really competitive.”
Ball is currently in negotiations about staying on, adding that his two campaigns there have changed him as a player. “I’m just talking at the moment so hopefully I will be on here for another few more years,” he said about the future.
“It is definitely a different style of rugby; they love a low tackle. All the Japanese guys are a lot shorter so there is definitely a bit of an adapting period when you first get here and I have adjusted. I certainly try and put in a bit of footwork, and working on your fend is probably a key element to avoid getting too many dead legs.
“Learning has been the big thing coming here, everything has been different. Even calling lineouts and things like that. A large number of players don’t speak English so you have to come up with systems and things that everyone can understand. That’s part of everything you have to adapt to as well. I really enjoy the challenge.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
2 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
2 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
14 Go to comments