Jake Ball (born 21 June 1991) 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 it ...

player who plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Ball played over 100 times for the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

regional side in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and was capped 50 times for the

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played the ...

. In 2021, Ball retired from international rugby to join Green Rockets Tokatsu in Japan.

Biography

Ball was born in Ascot, England, to a Welsh father from Pwllheli,

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

. His father was a rugby player who played for the London-based clubs London Welsh RFC, and Harlequins. The Ball family migrated to Australia when he was 16, where they are now based in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia, which is where his four children and wife live. A keen sportsman, Ball had played in the Australian under-19

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

championship of 2008–09.

Rugby career

Club

The start of Ball's career would be in Perth, for the rugby team

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. F ...

, with whom he trained with at the age of 21 in 2012. This experience led to Ball being spotted by Welsh regional team the

, who signed him on an initial three-year deal from 2012. Ball made his professional debut for the club on 15 September 2012, coming on as a 61st-minute replacement in the team's victory over Connacht in the Pro 12 tournament. During Ball's spell playing in Wales for the Scarlets, he had been a part of the

2016–17 Pro12 The 2016–17 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the seventh with a four-country format. It was the ...

league winning season for the Welsh side. After playing 133 games for the Scarlets, Ball moved to Japan in 2021 to play rugby for Green Rockets Tokatsu in the Japan Rugby League One. As of the beginning of 2023, Ball has played 15 games.

International

Ball made his international debut in 2014 replacing the suspended Ian Evans in the Wales squad during the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. ...

. Ball made his first test start in a 27–6 victory over France during the 2014 Six nations. Playing for Wales would take Ball to the Southern Hemisphere for the

2014 Wales rugby union tour of South Africa In June 2014, Wales national rugby union team, Wales toured South Africa, playing a 2-test series against the South Africa national rugby union team, Springboks. In addition to the two Test match (rugby union), Test matches, Wales also played a w ...

, and also Ball would feature in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in a game versus Uruguay. Ball would play regularly for Wales, this despite dislocating his shoulder in an international against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the 2017 Autumn internationals, the injury would keep him off the field for 10 months. Ball would play a part in Wales' grand slam winning

2019 Six Nations Championship The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, ...

, and later that year he would go on to feature prominently in the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. Ball retired from international duty in 2021 having gained 50 caps for his country.

BBC website gaffe

For Ball's inaugural international year, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Biography

Rugby career

Club

International

BBC website gaffe

References

External links