James Hudson (born 28 October 1981 in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

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 ...

) is a former

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 He was educated at

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational Independent school (UK), independent day school in Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmi ...

, where he gained 1st XV ''stripes'' as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Hudson started his career at

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

, his form led to a selection for the

2006 Churchill Cup The 2006 Churchill Cup was a rugby union competition played between the second teams of various top tier international rugby nations and the first teams of traditionally less prominent teams, such as Canada and the United States. The 2006 tournamen ...

. However, citing a lack of first team rugby, Hudson elected to join

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

at the end of the 2005–06 season. During his time at the club, Hudson rotated his role in the second row alongside Bob Casey and Nick Kennedy, however towards the beginning of 2009 he began to take a step up in the pecking order. This led to him starting in the 2008–09 Guinness Premiership semi final, scoring a scored a try against Harlequins at

The Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a sports stadium located in south-west London, England. The stadium is home to Harlequins rugby union team, who play in the Gallagher Premiership. The stadium has a capacity ...

as London Irish won 17–0 to book their place in the final. Hudson started the subsequent final, as London Irish lost 10–9 to

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 ...

. The following season Hudson joined the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

for the 2009–10 season., establishing himself as a regular starter. As a result of this Hudson was nominated as club captain for the 2010-2011 season. On 19 March 2013, it was announced Hudson would leave

to join

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

on a three-year deal. On 26 October 2016, Hudson was forced to retire from professional rugby after failing to overcome a serious knee injury.

References

External links

Gloucester Rugby profile

Newcastle Falcons profile

London Irish profile

Guinness Premiership profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, James 1981 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bath Bath Rugby players English rugby union players London Irish players Newcastle Falcons players People educated at Solihull School Rugby union locks Team Bath rugby union players Rugby union players from Sutton Coldfield