James Anthony Richard Lentjes (born 16 January 1991) is a

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 ...

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 who currently for the

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. His position is Flanker.

Early career

Born and raised in the city of Christchurch in the

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of New Zealand, Lentjes was educated at St Bede's College in his hometown where he won a secondary schools title in 2008. After finishing school, he made his way through the system, becoming a member of their wider training group in 2013 as well as playing for the Crusaders development team. He played club rugby in Canterbury with the university club, however due to a lack of opportunities to make the star studded Canterbury ITM Cup side, he headed south to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and began playing club rugby for Taieri. He holds a university degree in geology and geography and worked as a lab technician for

Fulton Hogan Fulton Hogan is a large infrastructure construction, roadworks and aggregate supplier company in New Zealand, which is also active in wider Australasia. The company was founded by Julius Fulton and Robert Hogan in Dunedin in 1933. In 2013 the ...

prior to his rugby career.

Senior career

His move to Dunedin quickly paid off and after one season in club rugby, he made the Otago squad for the

2014 ITM Cup Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

and went on to play eight games in his debut season, scoring one try. Injuries restricted him to just 6 appearances in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, but in that time he managed to score 5 tries which helped his side reach the Championship semi finals before they were well beaten by . He was back to full fitness in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, featuring in 10 out of 12 matches for Otago during a season which saw them finish top of the championship standings - reaching the final before being defeated at home by . In Round 8 of the

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the sixteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top f ...

Lentjes played his 50th game for Otago against at

Forsyth Barr Stadium The Forsyth Barr Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand. At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium or Awatea Street Stadium, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup an ...

, Otago winning in a thriller 22–20.

Super Rugby

Following a string of injuries, Lentjes was called into the squad midway through the

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, making his debut in a 39–21 victory over the

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on March 28. He remained with the squad for the rest of the season and played in both the semi-final win over the and the 21–14 victory over the in the final as the Highlanders won their first Super Rugby title. He was named in the Highlanders squad for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

, however the form of fellow loose forwards

Shane Christie Shane Christie (born 23 September 1985) is a New Zealand rugby union player. Early career Born in the city of Palmerston North on New Zealand's North Island, Christie was raised in the town of Nelson, on the northern tip of South Island before ...

, Gareth Evans and Dan Pryor meant he only made 4 appearances during the season as the Highlanders went down to the in

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in the semi-finals. He was a consistent performer for the side during the

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and

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seasons and was rewarded in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

- being named as the Highlanders captain, however his season was cut short in only his fourth game as he suffered a horrific ankle injury ruling him out for the rest of the year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lentjes, James New Zealand rugby union players Otago rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players 1991 births Living people Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Christchurch People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch