Butch James

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Butch James is a South African rugby union player. His usual position is at fly-half, where he plays for the Sharks in the international Super 14 competition. He has also represented South Africa, having played for the Springboks on numerous occasions.

He was born on 8 January 1979 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa and was schooled at Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.

James played for the Sharks in the Currie Cup, and the Super 12 franchise, the Coastal Sharks. He was a part of the Sharks team that made it to the 2001 Super 12 season, where they faced the ACT Brumbies, but lost 36-6 in the end.

Following the competition of the Super 12 season, James was included in the Springboks squad that summer, and went onto make his debut for South Africa as a 21 year old, starting at fly-half in a 23 to 32 loss against France at Ellis Park. In the following test, he contributed five penalty goals in the 20 to 15 win over France in Durban. James kept his starting position at fly-half for the whole of the 2001 Tri Nations Series, though South Africa only managed to win the one match, 20 to 15 over Australia in Perth, drawing another, and losing two.

He was a part of the touring Springboks in November that year, and was a reserve against a test against France at Stade Velodrome in Marseilles, and was subsequently moved to starting fly-half for a test against Scotland. He was switched to inside centre for the following match against England. South Africa lost all of those end of year tests.

After playing in every match for the Sharks in the 2004 Super 12 season he damaged his knee ligament in a games against the Stormers which put him out for the rest of the season. James was included in the Springboks 2006 Tri Nations Series squad, playing in the 17 to 35 loss against the All Blacks in Wellington, as well as the following match against Australia in Sydney, in which the Springboks lost 18 to 20 due to a late Wallabies try. James made an impact in the first half, though one of his cross field kicks led to a Mark Gerrard try. Butch James was now back in the set up for the end of year tour (2006-11-10 to 2006-12-03) to England and Ireland.

After being overlooked against Ireland Butch made his first impact on the tour against England. He was a king pin in the first half scoring an amazing try with the help of Jean de Villers. At the beginning of the 2nd half he set up an easy try for Springbok wing Akona Ndungane, his first try of his career. Having scored a try, two penalties, and a conversion, he was replaced by Jake White due to a knee injury.

James is known for being a superb tackler, excellent placekicker and for his aggressive attitude, particularly for a flyhalf.