Why Ben Vellacott put his England Qualified Player status ahead of representing Scotland
Ben Vellacott always knew there might come a time when the phone would ring and a career-defining decision over his international allegiance would loom.
The electric little scrum-half’s back story is well-documented. England-born and raised, a Scotland age-grade international at Under-17, Under-18 and Under-20 level thanks to his mother from Peterhead.
His talents have always been abundant – searing speed, mesmeric footwork, a lithe buzz-bomb half-back who can wriggle through the smallest of gaps and hurt you from anywhere.
A little over 18 months ago, he was dazzling for Gloucester, his form good enough to earn an approach from Gregor Townsend and the opportunity to join Scotland’s Six Nations squad.
The problem was that being capped would nullify his status as an English Qualified Player – a distinction that could torpedo his upward trajectory.
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Premiership clubs are incentivised by the RFU to field more English-qualified players. Should a player lose or sacrifice his EQP status, unless he is a superstar in the making or set to become a regular international, he becomes a lot less attractive.
“It is difficult, especially with some international teams nowadays that will call up young players, play them in a game, then they literally won’t get played again,” Vellacott told RugbyPass.
“That’s something you’ve really got to think about. I’ve seen it before. Then when those players try to come back to England, clubs aren’t interested because they haven’t got the EQP status.
Loved this journey ? pic.twitter.com/xaA4bYYhyD
— B V ?? (@BenjiVellacott9) May 27, 2019
“If you’re good enough to play international rugby consistently, then great. But if you only play one or two games, then it can be a real risk.”
It sounds cynical, but players in Vellacott’s situation must often be shrewd about international opportunities. He feels an attachment to his homeland and the country of his mother.
Had there been the option to move to one of Scotland’s pro-teams, Edinburgh or Glasgow Warriors, things might have been different. Thinking of his club career and his future in the Premiership, he felt compelled to turn down the call.
All the while, there were rumblings that Vellacott might instead be involved in England’s Six Nations campaign. His representatives at the time were quietly confident that would come to pass – even Townsend stated as much in a pre-tournament press conference.
He was listed in Eddie Jones’ wider elite player squad, although he was never actually called in to train or play. With Scottish Rugby very publicly intensifying its search for eligible talent beyond Scotland’s borders, the suspicion was that Jones was mischievously marking their card.
“I came to the decision that with only just breaking onto the scene in the Premiership and still being under contract for a couple of years in England, that if I played for Scotland, I would lose my EQP status,” said Vellacott.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxF0iLcAvA-/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1hny3l48nclps
“Without a club from Scotland approaching me regarding a contract, it was quite a risky move, as much as I want to play international rugby. Your EQP is very valuable in terms of securing your future.
“It was a very, very tough decision and something I had to sit down with my partner and family, it wasn’t an overnight decision. When I rang back and spoke to Gregor, he was obviously disappointed. It was very tough to make that decision.”
If, 18 months on, Vellacott had to choose, would he plump for thistle or rose? “It’s very up in the air. At the end of the day, I still need to focus on playing in the Premiership week in, week out, and if those international callings come that’s a decision I’ll have to make. It’s not really something I’m thinking about at the moment.”
A teasing question evaded as easily as a lumbering second row, but there is truth in the understandably non-committal response. At 24 years of age, what Vellacott really needs is time in the saddle. He made only 13 appearances for Gloucester in the Premiership and Champions Cup last season, 10 of which came from the bench.
The game plan, he says, was changing, and not in his favour. Too often he was seen as the spark to ignite a dwindling fire, rather than the man to get the blaze going from the start and keep it stoked. It was time to leave.
Wasps had long been tracking his progress, so with his Gloucester contract expiring, he took the option to move to Coventry, where he hopes opportunities will be more plentiful and the rugby more suited to his effervescent style. “I was always branded at Gloucester as an impact player, great off the bench,” he explained.
I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone at @gloucesterrugby for their support over the last few years. A club that gave me the opportunity to play professional rugby when no one else would! It has been a privilege to play in the ?&?? shirt! pic.twitter.com/FfQ7WdGKqZ
— B V ?? (@BenjiVellacott9) February 7, 2019
“I want to be more than that; I don’t want to just be the player that plays 20 minutes or so here and there to make an impact. I want to be doing that from the start and that’s something I’ve got to learn within my game.
“And at Wasps, they’ve already given me that opportunity in terms of developing, whereas I felt at Gloucester I was still getting the same old reason why I wasn’t going to push to start.
“I’ve got no bad words to say about Gloucester but in terms of my career, I needed to go to a team where they revolve a lot of their game plan around the scrum-half. Gloucester were going away from that.
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“They play a great brand of rugby, they’re a team on the rise, but I need to think about my career and I didn’t want to stay in the same place that I had been for the last couple of years.
“[Gloucester scrum-halves] Willi Heinz and Callum Braley have got very good basic skills and work perfectly for who they have got outside them – Danny Cipriani. Why wouldn’t you revolve your game plan around him? He’s done absolute wonders for Gloucester. I had to put myself first, be a little bit selfish, and I wanted to go and push on.
“I played two years in the Premiership now and my first year was a pretty good season but coming into last year, I was just getting the same old reasons why I wasn’t going to get any more minutes.”
Wasps sign hot prospect Ben Vellacott from Gloucester Rugby https://t.co/pK4vv7RGlv pic.twitter.com/3lGbat5B3X
— WaspsRugbyNews (@waspsrugby_news) February 6, 2019
If last season was underwhelming for Vellacott, it was a damp squib for Wasps, eighth in the Premiership and bottom of their Champions Cup pool. “As a squad from last year, Wasps are very disappointed in how things turned out,” he said.
“Wasps have always been an attractive team to me because of the way they play their rugby. They love to chuck the ball around and if you look at past scrum-halves that have come through their system, they’re always looking for a livewire scrum-half. It was the right time to make the move and Wasps showed a great interest, so it was a pretty easy decision.
“You look at Glasgow Warriors with Ali Price and George Horne, they are both like-for-like players, and if Ali is away or injured, then George literally slots in. Glasgow have moulded their game around the two nines and I believe that’s what Wasps are going to try and do, and the reason I thought Wasps would be the perfect club for me.
“With Dan Robson at Wasps, it’s going to be a very tough task to get more minutes, but I believe between us, we can really push Wasps forward this year.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments