Spencer Jeans’ degree might be a slow burn, but his rugby is high octane.
A flourishing professional career in Japan has stretched his Bachelor of Business degree at Bond University into a sixth year.
But like most athletes, everything is a competition, and as long as he beats former Bull Sharks and Queensland Reds teammate Angus Blyth’s eight-year benchmark, he’ll be happy.
And when he does finally throw his mortarboard into the air, he’ll have already carved out an impressive rugby resume in two different countries, adapting to the fast-paced Japanese style of football and also mastering their language.
The 2019 John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship holder has been back on the Gold Coast this semester knocking over another subject towards his degree before heading back abroad for his third season with Japanese rugby team, Kyuden Voltex.
Originally from the Gold Coast, Jeans played rugby at TSS from Prep through to Year 12, representing Queensland and Australian schoolboys teams and the Australian 18s team.
He began his Bachelor of Business at Bond in 2019 before making the Queensland Reds squad in 2021.
In early 2024, Jeans made the move to Japan to join Kyuden Voltex, a club based in the south of the Kyu Islands of Japan.
“I love where I am in Fukuoka, it's an amazing city,” Jeans said.
“It's not quite the hustle and bustle of Tokyo or Osaka, which I prefer to be honest – it’s a lot more laid back.”
“When I got there the team had just been promoted into division 2, and we were able to stay there last year and again this year.
“We’ve made some changes to the team, with new coaches and players. So the goal is to finish at the top of division 2 next season and push for a division 1 spot.
“I love living in Japan.It's been a massive culture shift. It's so different from anything I’ve ever experienced.”
"Because I live with all the Japanese players I've actually picked the language up quite well," Jeans said.
One of the biggest differences is the structure of the rugby programs.
“A lot of the players work for the company, so they’ll work throughout the day and then come train in the afternoon,” Jeans said.
“It's different to Australia because you’ve got to manage the workload of the boys who have been sitting at a desk all day and then try and make the squad as high performance as possible.”
On top of the language barrier, Jeans had to adapt to a different style of rugby.
“It was tough. My first pre-season was something I had never experienced ever before,” he said.
“The style differs a little bit. The physicality is probably a little bit less than what it is now in Australia.
“They’re definitely very fast – they want to play fast-flowing rugby, and the games are almost officiated in that way.
“They want that high-pace, entertaining rugby for the viewers to watch.
“We’ve had a few games where you’re pretty gassed by the 20-minute mark and you know that you still have 60 minutes to go.”