NICE GUY JAKE HAS SIGHTS SET FIRMLY ON THE WORLD CUP
JAKE Ball has been so frustrated he might be tempted to kick the nearest cat, but there are reasons why such a move wouldn’t be a great idea.
One, it might not be fair on the aforementioned feline.
Two, it might actually do more damage to the foot that the Scarlets forward damaged while playing for Wales during the Six Nations.
It was the latest in a line of injuries Ball has suffered over the past 18 months.
Don’t get him started on shoulder problems.
A dislocation cost him six months of last season and he suffered another setback early in this campaign.
Then he sustained a third such issue when playing for the Scarlets against the Ospreys over Christmas.
Throw in the foot problem he picked up in Wales’s match with Scotland and it adds up to the most challenging spell of Ball’s career.
“It’s been extremely frustrating,” said the 32-cap lock, speaking at a Scarlets event in Cardigan to launch an app for local clubs to communicate internally with players and members and externally with other clubs to assist in the co-ordination of fixtures and sundry other matters.
“I went five seasons with next to no issues, playing week in, week out, a lot of the time for 80 minutes.
“But since late 2017 it’s been one problem after another.
“Maybe it’s bad luck, I don’t know. Maybe it’s down to playing so much during that five-year period.
“The way players are looked after now is a lot better.
“I was playing too much rugby. “My body feels good now, aside from this latest problem.”
Ball must sometimes wonder whether he has offended the rugby gods in a previous life.
His latest bump came when he tore toe ligaments and damaged the middle of his foot during the game with Scotland.
“I didn’t think much of it but when I took off my shoe later my foot had swollen up,” he said.
“Even then I thought it wouldn’t take long to clear up. But it hasn’t turned out that way.
“I was talking to Warren Gatland about it. James Davies has had a similar run of injuries this season. Hopefully, the bad luck is behind us both.”
The run of misfortune has cost Ball his status as a Wales first choice.
He had started all five of Wales’ Six Nations matches in 2017, with his strong scrummaging and abrasive ball-carrying seeing the Scarlet establish himself alongside Alun Wyn Jones at the heart of the Welsh pack.
But he has begun only two Tests since he suffered that first shoulder mishap playing against New Zealand a year and a half ago.
He had looked back to his best when appearing for the Scarlets against Leinster in Dublin in January, putting in 16 carries which yielded 29 metres for his side and also making 11 tackles without missing a single one.
It was one of the displays of the season by a Welsh lock, a fired-up offering that came close to inspiring the West Walians to a shock victory, but it didn’t prove enough to catapult Ball back into the Test starting lineup .
His immediate goal is to return to full fitness and feature in this month’s Heineken Champions Cup qualification play-off against the Ospreys.
But he is also looking further ahead to the World Cup.
“I played at the 2015 World Cup and my goal then was to feature in the next one,” he said.
“That target hasn’t changed. “I think about it every day. “Injuries have counted against me of late, but I can’t change what’s happened.
“I just need things to go my way. “All the other locks in contention will hope for the same.”
Despite his Holby City-meets-Casualty experiences, Ball is still widely seen as being among the top four engine-room operatives in the country, along with Alun Wyn Jones, Adam Beard and Cory Hill.
But Bradley Davies found his best form for the Ospreys on their recent tour of Africa, standing out against the Cheetahs and Southern Kings.
Beard’s emergence this term has been timely for Gatland, given Ball’s orthopaedic issues.
“Adam’s done well,” said Ball. “He’s a different style of lock from myself, but Gats gave him the shirt and he has taken his opportunity.
“Alun Wyn Jones is one of the most consistent players I have come across.
“I know he has been injured recently, but he doesn’t seem to pick up many bumps despite playing a lot of rugby over the years. It is quite amazing, really.
“He has also added to his game as he has got older.
“That takes some doing and he played exceptionally well during the Six Nations.”
A second World Cup would further justify Ball’s decision to pack in cricket for rugby, his first love.
A fast bowler who played for Western Australia Under-19s at the age of 17, and counted among his peers Mitchell and Shaun Marsh, sons of former Test star Geoff Marsh, Ball was based in Perth and appeared destined for a big future in the sport until experiencing what he called a mid-game “epiphany”.
“I was playing an A-grade game in Fremantle and came off at tea and my mother was there watching and I just told her: ‘I am not enjoying this any more. I love the bowling part of the game but I can’t stand standing around the field’,” he has said. “I knew
within a couple of months there would be a contract on the table but deep down I knew I did not have it in me to want to do it professionally.
“I told Geoff Marsh and he tried to convince me to keep playing but my mind was mind up.
“Deep down inside I missed my rugby. I would probably say I was quite aggressive for cricket. I didn’t like getting nicked through the slips.”
Ball these days doesn’t like spending too much time in treatment rooms.
Another World Cup would provide a suitable outlet for his aggression.
But he needs Lady Luck to smile on him, otherwise one of the shoulders he has had so much trouble with could end up with something of a chip on it.
And that wouldn’t do at all for one of rugby’s genuinely nice guys.