Gaskell aims to prolong his career in Far East
PREMIERSHIP stalwart James Gaskell feels a move to Japan will help prolong his playing career.
The athletic loose forward has endured an injury disrupted campaign for Wasps with the physical demands of the Premiership placing a heavy burden on his 6’7 frame.
The former Sale man underwent ankle surgery in the autumn and also spent a spell on the sidelines due to a foot problem.
Now, after over 150 appearances for Wasps, Gaskell is on the move and looking forward to playing the fast-paced game on offer in Japan’s League One.
“Fourteen years of 32 games a year, mentally and physically is a big ask. I think a few less games and shorter seasons is something to definitely preserve the body,” he said.
“The sport has given me a lot and I want it to continue a lot longer and that potentially wouldn’t have been the case had I carried on playing in the Premiership. If I can drag this out and be like Jimmy Gopperth and get to nearly 40 I will be really chuffed.”
Gaskell has bulked up considerably in the decade since he was named as Sale’s youngest-ever captain, at 20, and weighs in at around 18st 2lbs (116kgs).
“As a player you have to adapt to what is put in front of you demand-wise and the way the Premiership has gone and how physical and how set-piece orientated it has become, you have to have that extra size. I’ll be able to drop a couple of kilos in Japan.”
Gaskell’s destination in Japan is as yet unknown although newly-crowned League One champions, Saitama (Panasonic) Wild Knights, have a sizeable hole to fill following George Kruis’ retirement.
Gaskell spoke to Kruis and others to have made the move to the Far East from the Premiership such as Charlie Matthews, Freddie Burns and Josh Matavesi before making his decision.
“The goal has always been to play abroad at some point and if I didn’t do it now I probably would never do it,” he said. “My little girl is 15 months so it is the perfect time to do it. Me and Lee (Blackett, Wasps head coach) had some honest discussions early on about me wanting to explore that.
“Rugby offers so much in different countries with different cultures and different ways of playing and I felt like I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t go there and try it. There’s an exciting challenge ahead.”
Gaskell joined Wasps from Sale in 2014 and says the place has become “home”. “The big thing that resonated with me when Dai (Young, former DoR) approached me was that he was building a core of young English players that were going to be sprinkled with a bit of stardust from around the world and the aim was to win titles,” he said. “We’ve not quite achieved that but we’ve been to two Premiership finals and seven semifinals. It is just a shame that
we haven’t turned more of those semis into finals and those finals into wins. But in terms of experiences and players I have played with it’s been above and beyond what I expected.”
While disappointed not to win anything at Wasps, Gaskell has signed off with some silverware – as assistant coach to Gopperth at Nuneaton’s Old Edwardians, who won promotion and the Warwickshire County Cup. “The coaching side of the sport is ultimately where I want to be,” he added.