{"id":582718,"date":"2026-05-14T01:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582718\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T01:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:19:16","slug":"wales-international-announces-retirement-from-rugby-with-immediate-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582718\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales international announces retirement from rugby with immediate effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former Wales lock has hung up his boots for a second time<\/p>\n

15:00, 13 May 2026Updated 16:32, 13 May 2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scarlets and Wales lock Jake Ball has announced his retirement(Image: Gruffydd Thomas\/Huw Evans Agency)<\/p>\n

Wales and Scarlets second-row Jake Ball has announced his retirement from the game.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old initially retired from rugby in November 2024 but made a remarkable U-turn and returned to the Scarlets<\/a> who he left in 2021.<\/p>\n

Ball made a strong start to the season but injuries, combined with his business commitments, persuaded Ball that the time is right to hang up his boots.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like the right time. I\u2019ve had a few head knocks, a couple of injuries. I think my body is telling me something, \u201d said Ball, who earned 50 caps for Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad I came back and gave it another go at the Scarlets.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve enjoyed being back in the environment and being a professional rugby player again and to be able to retire here, at the club where it all really started for me, makes it that much more special.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife Christie and kids left through Covid, they never really had a chance to say goodbye.<\/p>\n

“My kids have loved coming here to Parc y Scarlets and watching their dad play, they are desperate to come to games and have started playing themselves.<\/p>\n

“For them to have been able to see me play and remember that is something I will treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n

Born in Ascot, but raised in Australia, Jake first arrived in west Wales in 2012 from Super Rugby side Western Force.<\/p>\n

A relative unknown, he started out with the Llanelli<\/a> RFC Welsh Premiership side before making his Scarlets debut in a Celtic League clash against Connacht in Galway.<\/p>\n

Ball was a physical, combative, abrasive second row with a high workrate with and without the ball and he quickly became established as a key figure in the Scarlets pack, going on to make his Test debut for Wales in 2014.<\/p>\n

He was part of the Scarlets squad that produced a memorable run of victories on the way to the Guinness Pro12 title in 2017 and featured in the final in Dublin the following year, as well as the Champions Cup semi-final in the Irish capital.<\/p>\n

Ball has played 14 matches this season, but a hand injury has prevented him reaching the 150 appearance milestone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supporters here are an awesome bunch, their passion for the team is incredible and they have been amazing to me and my family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne game that stands out was in the Heineken Cup<\/a> game against Harlequins at The Stoop when one of the fans ran onto the field after we won and started jumping all over me!<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been some incredible highs, the lead-up to winning the championship in 2017, Europe the following year – that was a special time with a special group of players. I will always remember the friendships, the people who have made my time here so memorable. I can\u2019t thank them enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ball’s focus, post-rugby, will now be on his supplement business, Veritroo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been four years in the making and It\u2019s something I am extremely passionate about,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company is going well, so I\u2019ll be going back to Australia and running that full time. It is starting to take up a lot more of my time, it is exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing back in Wales has allowed me to spend a lot more time with my family. I spent 10 months here on my own after Christie and the kids had flown back to Australia and then eight months in Japan when I wasn\u2019t allowed to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has loved being back here, the boys are loving their rugby and they are big lads – who knows, if they are any good, they might be coming back!<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is going to be sad to leave, I have spent half my life playing rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is exciting to see the young talent coming through and I\u2019ll be keeping a close eye on the club\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cScarlets gave me the opportunity, it is where it all started and I will forever be thankful to the club for that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Wales lock has hung up his boots for a second time 15:00, 13 May 2026Updated 16:32,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[138564,5903,19428,101,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-582718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-jake-ball","tag-rugby","tag-scarlets","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}