James Leigh Hamilton (born 17 November 1982) is a Scottish former rugby union player who made 63 international appearances for the Scotland national team. He played for club sides

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 ...

2003–2008,

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

2008–2010,

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 ...

2010–2013,

Montpellier Herault Rugby Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

2013–2014 and

Saracens F.C. Saracens Rugby Club () are an English professional rugby union club based in North London, England. As of the current 2022–23 season, they compete in Premiership Rugby, the highest tier competition in English rugby, as well as the domestic P ...

2014–2017.

Early life

Hamilton was born and raised in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

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 ...

, to a Scottish soldier father and a half-English half-Chinese mother. He was brought up on a council estate in Coventry and educated at

Coundon Court School Coundon Court is an all-inclusive Academy in Coundon, Coventry, England. The Headteacher is Chris Heal. Coundon Court has, as of June 2021, approximately 1800 enrolled students. The school serves an age range from 11 to 18, fully comprehensive ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, and played for Barkers Butts R.F.C, whilst there he was part of the Warwickshire Colts side before joining

. He also spent a summer playing in New Zealand in order to advance his potential.

Rugby career

Hamilton played for England at under-19 and under-21 level, but opted for senior honours with Scotland. He was the 1000th man to be capped by Scotland when he made an appearance off the bench against on 11 November 2006. He gained his second cap off the bench against when called up at the last minute for

Nathan Hines Nathan Hines (born 29 November 1976) is an Australian-born former rugby union and rugby league footballer. He played at international level for Scotland, winning 77 caps, and at club level for Edinburgh, Perpignan, and Clermont Auvergne among ...

, over confusion over whether or not Hines was suspended. Hamilton started in the first two games of the

2007 Six Nations Championship The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen mat ...

against

and Wales respectively. He was included in the 2007 World Cup squad making several appearances during the group stages. Hamilton scored his first international try for Scotland on 19 June 2010, in Scotland's victory over Argentina. In 2008 Hamilton signed a three-year contract with Edinburgh Rugby. Hamilton moved to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

for the 2010–11 season. He was appointed captain of Gloucester Rugby for the 2012–13 season under their coach Nigel Davies. On 12 December 2012, it was announced Hamilton would leave Gloucester at the end of the season to join French club

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

on a three-year contract. On 28 May 2014, it was announced that Hamilton would leave Montpellier to return to England to join

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 ...

. During his time at Saracens he helped them win the Premiership title in 2015 and 2016, and also helped Saracens win the European Champions Cup in 2016 and 2017. On 2 September 2015, Hamilton announced his retirement from international rugby after Vern Cotter had not selected him for Scotland's World Cup squad In August 2016, Hamilton co-founded a sports marketing company with Ian Ascough called Those Fellas. On 13 May 2017, Hamilton announced that he would not play rugby beyond the end of the 2016–2017 season.

References

External links

Jim Hamilton co-founder of Those Fellas Sports MarketingTigers profileScotland profile

Jim Hamilton Facebook

Jim Hamilton Twitter

Jim Hamilton Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Jim 1982 births Living people Edinburgh Rugby players English people of Scottish descent Expatriate rugby union players in France Gloucester Rugby players Leicester Tigers players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Swindon Saracens F.C. players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish expatriate rugby union players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France English people of Chinese descent