is a professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a flanker for

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

club

Saitama Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...

. Born in Thailand, he represents

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

Early life

Born in Thailand, then in his youth moved to Australia and grew up in

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultur ...

, NSW. His junior clubs were the Narrabri Blue Boars and the Gunnedah Red Devils.

International career

After 3 Top League seasons for Panasonic Wild Knights, Ben Gunter received his first call-up to his adopted country, Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has named Dylan Riley in a 52-man training squad ahead of British and Irish Lions test. On Saturday October 23, 2021, Ben made his international debut for Japan against Australia at the Showa Denko Dome in Oita, starting at flanker.

References

External links

* Australian rugby union players 1997 births Living people Rugby union flankers Saitama Wild Knights players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Sunwolves players Japanese rugby union players Japan international rugby union players People from Gunnedah 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-stub