James Robert Chisholm (born 11 August 1995) is an English professional

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, currently playing for Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership. His primary position is Number Eight, but he can also play at flanker.

Background

Chisholm, youngest of the three Chisholm brothers (Ali,

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

who is also a professional rugby player), was born in

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...

, Sussex, to Peter and Sue Chisholm. He took up the game with

Haywards Heath RFC Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team. The first XV currently plays in Sussex 2, the tenth tier of English rugby union competition. The club also has a number of other teams, with their 2nd XV currently playing in the ...

. Chisholm was educated in London Meed Primary School and Warden Park. He later attended sixth-form at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

and captained the school's 1st XV. Outside of rugby, Chisholm is also the former Sussex Under 18 high jump champion.

Club career

Harlequins

2013–2014 Chisholm joined the full-time Harlequins Academy in July 2013 and made his senior debut that same year against

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in the

LV= Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

. The back-row made his starting debut a week later, and played the full 80 minutes in the victory over

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 the same competition. 2014–2015 While on-loan playing for the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

side London Scottish, Chisholm made a total of 10 appearances and scored 2 tries during the 2014–2015 season. On 13 October 2014, it was a special occasion when Chisholm was joined by his 2 older brothers Ali and

to play for Harlequins A against Exeter Braves in the A-league. 2015–2016 The 2015 Six Nations Champion and 2015

World Rugby Under 20 Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

Finalist signed a dual contract with London Scottish. He later made 2 appearances against Rotherham Titans and Moseley in the season. 2016–2017 After being involved in the victorious

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

tour in South Africa during the 2016 June international window and a strong pre-season with Harlequins, Chisholm started the 2016–2017 campaign brightly and produced a Man of the Match performance in the opening round of

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

match 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 ...

. He crossed over the try line two times and out-gunned his opposite number

Sergio Parisse Sergio Francesco Parisse (; born 12 September 1983) is an Italian rugby union player. He currently plays for French club Toulon and played for the Italy national team from 2002 until the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Parisse is Italy's most-capped player ...

during the pool match. In November 2016, Chisholm re-signed for Harlequins. At the end of the season, Chisholm was named IG's Players' Player of the Season,

DHL DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...

's Player of the Season and the

Nick Duncombe Nick Duncombe (21 January 1982 – 14 February 2003) was an English rugby union footballer who played for Harlequins and England. Earmarked as a promising youngster since his time in the England youth teams, Duncombe was the England senior t ...

Young Player of the Season. 2020–2021 He scored a try after coming on as a replacement during Harlequins 43-36 defeat of Bristol Bears in the Premiership semi-final, a game in which Quins recovered from 28 points down to win. He started the following week in the Premiership final against Exeter as Harlequins won the game 40-38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever.

International career

England U18 Chisholm captained England U18 to a 57–13 win over Scotland on his debut at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in March 2013. He also led the side to a 27–22 victory over hosts France at

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in the subsequent FIRA/AER Final and scored three tries in the tournament. During the summer tour to South Africa, Chisholm touch downed two times in the opening match against South Africa and he captained the side in all three games that produced wins over Wales by 17–15 and France by 12–8. In December 2013, the Harlequins Number Eight reclaimed the armband in his last U18 international match and led his England U18 side to a convincing 23–3 win over Australia Schoolboys at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

. England U20 Chisholm's maiden try for

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in En ...

was against Scotland at

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

in February 2014 and he shared in the side's

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

triumph in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

the following June, playing in all five matches. He scored two tries in the 63–3 pool win over Italy. James added another when England lost 21–15 to Wales at

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

in the opening game of the 2015 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and made his fifth touchdown at this level against Scotland that March. He also scored tries against France and South Africa during the World Championship in Italy in June 2015. Chisholm was the BMW Man of the Match in successive games against Scotland and France and said after England clinched the 2015 Six Nations title: “It was amazing but tough at times. We knew it would come and it doesn't get better than this. It was tremendous to do it here in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

.” Subsequently, he was named World Rugby Junior Player of the Year 2015. England Saxons In Summer 2016, Chisholm was named in the

squad's tour to South Africa for the 2-match series against South African A team.

Honours

* World Rugby Junior Player of the Year 2015

References

External links

Harlequins Profile

RFU Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, James 1995 births Living people English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Haywards Heath