James Cannon is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He primarily plays as a lock. Cannon currently plays for

English Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

side Ealing Trailfinders. He joined the side in April 2019. He has previously played for

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

and Northampton Saints, and has had loan spells with

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

and London Scottish.

Early life

Cannon was born in

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

and attended

Bishop Stopford School Bishop Stopford School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. The school is located in the Headlands, Kettering. The current headteacher is Jill Silverthorne. Former students of Bis ...

in the town. He is the son of Vince Cannon, who made 438 appearances for Northampton Saints, captained the side and is in the club's Hall of Fame. Despite this Cannon didn't play rugby until he was in secondary school. Cannon also played for local rugby club Kettering RFC, lining out for the team in the Midlands Division 2 East. From Kettering, he was signed to the Northampton Saints academy.

Club rugby career

Northampton Saints

Cannon joined Northampton Saints academy for the 2007–08 season. He made his debut for the first team in the

2007–08 National Division One The 2007–08 National Division One was the 21st full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. New teams included Northampton Saints (relegated from the Guinness Premiersh ...

on 4 March 2008. He was still in the academy but an injury crisis meant that he started in the midweek game against Launceston, which Northampton won 72–7. Cannon was named on the bench against

Pertemps Bees There have been three rugby clubs, each one a separate legal entity, that have borne the ‘Birmingham & Solihull’ name: ◆ Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Football Club Ltd ('the first club'), founded in 1989 -as an industrial and provident ...

four days later, but did not come on. He made his second appearance for the side as a replacement against Exeter Chiefs on 22 March 2016 and started against

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

a week later on 29 March. Cannon made a total of three appearances for the Saints in his debut season as they were promoted to the Premiership. In the 2007–08 season, Cannon's second year in the academy, he didn't feature for Northampton's first team after the club's return to the Premiership. He was an unused replacement in a

2008–09 EDF Energy Cup The 2008–09 Anglo-Welsh Cup, known as the EDF Energy Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 38th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the fourth to follow the recently adopted Anglo-Welsh format. As in the previous two ...

game against

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. In October 2007, Cannon was sent out on loan to get game time.

Loan to Bedford Blues

Cannon was loaned to

in the National League 1 for the 2008–09 season. He made his debut for the team on 1 November 2008 when he played the full 80 minutes against Cornish Pirates. Cannon made a total 17 appearances for the Blues during his loan, all but four of these coming as starts, as Bedford finished third in the division.

Return to Northampton

Cannon stayed with Northampton Saints for the 2009–10 season. He made his Premiership debut on 31 October 2009 against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

, starting the match and playing 55 minutes in a 29–15 loss. Cannon featured in two more games in the 2009–10 Premiership, coming on as a late replacement against

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

and starting against

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. Saints finished second in the league table, but were beaten in the semi-final by

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. He also played three times in the

2009–10 LV Cup The 2009–10 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) was the 39th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the fifth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. Northampton Saints were crowned champions after beating Gloucester in the final at ...

, which Saints ultimately won, and scored his first try in a Cup game against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. Cannon played in a total of six games for the first team over the course of the season. He left the club at the end of the season having made a total of nine first team appearances.

Wasps

It was announced in April 2010 that Cannon had signed a two-year deal with

. He joined the side ahead of the 2010–11 season. Cannon made his Wasps debut in a 2010–11 Premiership against Newcastle Falcons on 10 September 2010. He made his first ever appearance in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

as a replacement against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

on 10 October 2010. Cannon made a total of 15 appearances in the Premiership in his first season with the side and played in four of Wasps' six games in the

2010–11 Heineken Cup The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 wi ...

. He also started four games in the

2010–11 LV Cup The 2010–11 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) was the 40th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the sixth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. The competition consisted of the four Welsh Magners League teams and the twelve Av ...

. Cannon didn't play in the 2010–11 Challenge Cup for the side, being an unused replacement in the team's only game in the competition, a 32–22 defeat to Harlequins in the quarter-finals. All together, he made 23 appearances in his debut season, all but five of these coming as starts. Cannon didn't play as regularly for Wasps in his second season, missing a large part of the season through injury. His first appearance of the year came on 24 February 2012, when he played 80 minutes in a 2011–12 Premiership match against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

in a 46–34 defeat. He played in a further four Premiership games, as Wasps finished in 11th place avoiding relegation by just one point. Cannon also made a single appearance in the 2011–12 Challenge Cup, starting in the quarter-final against

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

which Wasps lost 26–23. Despite his lack of game time over the course of the season, Cannon signed a contract extension with Wasps in March 2012. With his return to fitness, Cannon played more regularly in the 2012–13 season. He made 12 appearances in the 2012–13 Premiership, with eight of these coming as starts, as Wasps finished 8th. Cannon played in four of Wasps' six pool stage games in the 2012–13 Challenge Cup and scored his first try for the club against

Mogliano Mogliano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about south of Ancona and about south of Macerata. Mogliano rises on a hill at 313 m. on the sea level and halfway between the Sibillini ...

, but didn't feature in the quarter-final defeat to

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. In addition to the league and Challenge Cup, he also played in four games in the

2012–13 LV Cup The 2012–13 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) is the 42nd season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the eighth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. The competition consists of the four Welsh Pro12 teams and the 12 English Premiers ...

. Cannon played a total of 22 games in his third season with the team, and on the back of these performances was awarded another contract extension. Cannon played 12 times in the 2013–14 Premiership, starting four of these games. He also played in three games in the 2013–14 Challenge Cup and four in the

2013–14 LV Cup The 2013–14 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) is the 43rd season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the ninth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. The competition consists of the four Welsh Pro12 teams and the twelve English Premie ...

, starting all of these. At the end of the season, Wasps finished 7th in the Premiership, which put them into a play-off to qualify for the following season's Champions Cup. Cannon did not take part in the two-leg play-off against

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

, which Wasps won. In the following season, Cannon continued to have a limited role in the first team, starting five of the team's 2014–15 Premiership games and coming on as a replacement in a further three. He started all four of the team's games in the

2014–15 LV Cup The 2014–15 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) is the 44th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the tenth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. The competition consists of the four Welsh Pro12 teams and the twelve English Premie ...

, and featured from the replacements bench in a 2014–15 Champions Cup game against Castres. Despite his lack of game time, Cannon signed another contract extension with Wasps for the 2015–16 season. Cannon made his first appearance of the 2015–16 season in a Premiership game against Harlequins on 16 October 2015. In the middle of the season however, Cannon went on loan to London Scottish in the Championship. He made a single appearance for the side during his loan, starting against

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a professional rugby union team from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, following their relegation from the Nat ...

on 5 December 2015. Cannon returned to Wasps in the new year and featured from the bench against his former club Northampton Saints on 29 January 2016. Following this, he played in eight more Premiership fixtures, making a total of 10 appearances for Wasps for the season. After spending the 2016–17 preseason with Wasps, Cannon left the club in September 2016, having made 93 appearances for the first team.

Connacht

Cannon joined Irish side

in September 2016. He signed on a one-year deal with the club for the 2016–17 season and was included in the province's European squad. He made 16 appearances in his first season, and signed a two-year extension to his deal in February 2017. In his second season, Cannon was a regular starter for the side. He appeared 21 times in all competitions, starting all but three of his 17 games in the league. The following season he continued to appear regularly, but was primarily used as a replacement coming off the bench in nine games and starting eight. In the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

, he started four of the teams group games and also started the quarter-final defeat against

. In April 2019, it was announced that Cannon would leave Connacht at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Ealing Trailfinders

Following his departure from Connacht, Cannon signed for

side Ealing Trailfinders.

International career

Cannon has played rugby at under-age level for England. He played for the England under-18 team while he was a student at

and won a European Championship with the side in 2006. Cannon was part of the England under-20 squad that won a Grand Slam in the

2008 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2008 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the first Six Nations Under 20s Championship, a rugby union competition for under-20 national teams, played between February and March 2008. This was the first competition of the new under-20s tourna ...

. Cannon made his debut for the under-20 side in the final game of the tournament against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on the back of his performance for Northampton Saints in the National League 1. He was not named in the English squad for the 2008 Junior World Cup however. Cannon is also qualified to represent at international level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, James Living people 1988 births Bedford Blues players Connacht Rugby players English people of Irish descent London Scottish F.C. players Northampton Saints players Wasps RFC players Rugby union locks Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club players