Tom James (born 17 April 1987 in

Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is ...

) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

former 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. James represented Wales and spent most of his career with

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

Club career

After turning to rugby from athletics, he joined

Merthyr RFC Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Ty ...

on the wing. After a successful year at Merthyr James joined

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after ...

at the start of the 2006–07 season. James scored 11 tries in just nine games to open the season which brought him to the attention of the first fifteen, with whom he had an academy contract. He was immediately put into the 22 man squad for the

trip to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

. He came off the bench midway through the second half and within minutes had marked his professional debut with a try. A slight knock kept him out of the first few games of the 2007–08 season. He came back shortly after the start, firstly playing a game for Cardiff RFC before starting the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

away game against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in which he scored two tries. The following week he started again at home against

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 ...

and scored two more tries late on helping the Blues to a bonus point win. James was top try scorer in the Magners League in the 2007–08 season. James missed the first nine weeks of this season due to a groin injury. He scored a try in the final of the

EDF Energy 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 ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

on 18 April 2009 against

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 ...

. He also scored the try that lead Cardiff to draw 26–26 in the Heineken Cup Semi-Final. On 24 January 2013 it was announced that James had signed for

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 ...

for the 2013–14 season. On 20 December 2014 it was announced that James had returned to the

on a two-year deal. After being released by the Blues at the end of the 2018–19 season, James signed for rival Welsh region the Scarlets. Towards the end of his second stint at the Blues, James revealed in an interview that he had been suffering from clinical depression which had caused him to miss a number of games. After a single season with the Scarlets during which injuries limited him to only two competitive appearances, James announced his retirement from professional Rugby at the end of the 2019–20 season. As of 2020 he remains the Blues' record try-scorer, with 60 tries scored.

International career

His rise through Welsh rugby continued and during the 2006–07 season he joined the Wales Sevens team for a number of games. Following the 2006–07 season he was called up to the Welsh national squad for the summer tour of Australia, although he did not play a game on the tour. During the build up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup he was a part of the 40 man squad and made his debut for his country against England in August 2007. When the 40 man squad was cut to 30 at the end of August, James was not selected and he returned to

for the Magners League season. James returned to the squad for the 2009 Wales rugby union tour of North America, starting in both matches and scoring in each test. On 18 January 2010 he was named in the 35 man Wales national Squad for the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition be ...

. On 1 June 2015 James was included in the Welsh training squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, and was included in the Welsh squad for the

2016 Six Nations Championship The 2016 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2016 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by The Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. I ...

. He made what was to be his twelfth and final appearance for Wales in that year's Six Nations, against Scotland.

International tries

Personal life

He was a Welsh athlete before turning to rugby. His older brother, Robbie, is a professional welterweight boxer and former Welsh ABA Champion.

References

External links

Cardiff profileWales profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Tom 1987 births Living people Merthyr RFC players Cardiff RFC players Cardiff Rugby players Exeter Chiefs players Scarlets players Rugby union players from Rhymney Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union wings