Jake Ball: Scarlets lock set to meet new son as he leaves Wales

Jake Ball made his Wales debut against Ireland in March 2014

Wales second-row Jake Ball will take another step in his journey to finally meet his fourth child in person when he returns to Australia at the weekend.

Ball has played his last game for Scarlets and will rejoin his family in Perth after nine years in Wales.

"The last time I saw the family was back last September and I have my son Max now, who I have not met, who is almost six months old now," said Ball.

"I have been doing Facetime and Zoom and just trying to keep up."

Ball, 29, has not seen his wife Christie and three children since last autumn 2020, after the decision was made for them to travel to Australia while the coronavirus pandemic spread.

Rugby bubble restrictions limited the amount of contact Ball was allowed with people outside of the squad, and his Australian wife needed family support in Perth to help look after the children whilst heavily pregnant.

Ball will have to wait that little bit longer to spend that time with his family when he arrives in Australia because he has to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks.

It was agreed Ball would link up with his family at the end of the 2020-21 season and he insists he has no regrets about his decision, with the long-term choice to eventually settle in Australia.

"It was not a decision we came to lightly, it was multiple conversations involving different people," Ball told the Scrum V podcast.

"We knew it was not going to pan out with Christie staying here with the lack of family support we had here with us, having three kids and being heavily pregnant.

"We had to put the family first and that is all I was interested in, making sure they were safe and they had the support they needed.

"Partners sacrifice a lot in terms of rugby when we are busy as players and Christie has sacrificed a lot. When we arrived here in 2012 she gave up a law degree to come over with me.

"I could have potentially asked to leave early last September but I opted not to, I didn't want to finish my time like that.

"I love the Scarlets and feel privileged to have worn the jersey. It has been a hell of year, but what a special place.

"I was also desperate to get to 50 Wales caps and that was a target I wanted to hit."

Jake Ball scored two tries in 133 appearances for Scarlets

It has been a special decade for the Ascot-born lock who qualified for Wales through his father, who hails from Pwllheli.

After moving to Australia as a teenager, Ball was a one-time cricketing colleague of the Marsh brothers, Mitchell and Shaun.

Despite being a handy fast bowler who once clocked a delivery of more than 80mph, Ball switched from cricket to rugby and arrived in Llanelli in 2012 hoping to make a living.

After an initial six-month trial period, Ball has gone onto make 133 appearances for the region.

The rugged lock impressed then Wales coach Warren Gatland and went on to have an international career that has included two World Cups and the 2019 Grand Slam.

The bearded Ball has become synonymous with never taking a backward step and was even involved in a training ground skirmish with Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones in February 2021.

Ball won the last of his 50 caps against Italy during the successful 2021 Six Nations campaign. Now the time has come to leave these shores, its impact has dawned on him.

"It has hit me a lot more now that I am packing up the house," said Ball.

"We made the decision last September and it was not a choice made lightly.

"Now it has become more real it is the end of that nine-year spell. It has been great and I have made a lot of good mates and it is going to be very odd getting on the plane.

"Thursday will be my last training session and that feels strange. I did not think I would be emotional, but we had an end-of-season thing after the Cardiff Blues game and they handed out a signed shirt.

"I had this speech in my head I was going to say, but I felt as if I could not speak. It was the first time I got choked up, so that shows how much the club means to me."

Ineligible but available

Ball has not given up all hope of adding to his international tally, even though moving away from Wales will make him ineligible for Wayne Pivac's squad.

The Welsh Rugby Union brought in a new selection policy in October 2017, meaning players would not be picked if they had won fewer than 60 caps and opted to move away from Wales.

"I still have not come out and said I have retired from international rugby," said Ball.

"A lot can happen between now and the World Cup, I have never completely ruled that out.

"You never know they might change the 60-cap rule, stranger things have happened. I am aware of what my decision means though."

Where Ball's immediate club future lies remains to be seen, with possible options to be explored in Australia and Japan.

"It is ongoing," Ball admits.

"I have decisions to make over the next month or so. My main aim has to been to get back with Christie and the kids and then have the discussion about what is best for us a family."