Butch James
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Andrew David "Butch" James (born 8 January 1979) is a South African former professional
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player who represented 40 times and was a member of the team that won the
2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...
. His usual position was fly-half, though he also played inside centre. James retired at the end of 2013 and joined the Varsity Shield side as backline and kicking coach. During his career, James was an ambassador for the
Laureus World Sports Awards The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...
in South Africa. Also, he has taken up amateur mountain biking and has now completed two Absa Cape Epics. The Untamed African MTB Race takes 1200 riders through the scenic Western Cape region of South African each March. The two-person team stage race covers approximately 700 km and has 15 000m of vertical ascent.


Early life

James was born on 8 January 1979 in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
, Gauteng, South Africa and was schooled at
Maritzburg College Maritzburg College is a State school, semi-private English language, English-medium high school for boys situated in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest boys' high school i ...
in
Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...
, KwaZulu-Natal. Although his first names are 'Andrew David', he has been known as 'Butch' since his grandmother gave him the nickname as an infant.


Sharks career

James played for the in the
Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...
and for the
Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
in
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
. He has twice played in a Super Rugby final for the Sharks, being on the losing side on both occasions: in the 2001 Super 12 final, the Sharks lost 36–6 to the
ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses wh ...
, James missing four penalty attempts in the first half; in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
they lost 19–20 to the Bulls. His career with the Sharks and the Springboks was hampered by injury. In 2002, his appearances were restricted, following knee surgery. In the
2004 Super 12 season The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seaso ...
, he played in every game for the Sharks and looked certain to be recalled to the national squad until an injury to the cruciate ligaments of his left knee, 12 minutes into the last game, against the
Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...
, ended his season and kept him out of rugby for six months. Despite his history of injuries, James has a reputation as an aggressive tackler and excellent place kicker. Early in his career he was frequently penalised for dangerous tackles, particularly tackles above the shoulder, with a swinging arm, or without the use of the arms. In only his second Test, against , he was cited, and suspended, for an off-the-ball hit on French
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
David Bory, and three Tests later, against , he was
sin-bin The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...
ned for a tackling offence. More recently he has improved his tackling technique and is now less prone to conceding penalties. It was announced on 9 July 2007 that he had signed a two-year contract with
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, Bath, Rec ...
though he continues to be eligible to play for the
Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...
.


Springbok career

Following the completion of the 2001 Super 12 season, James was included in the Springboks squad and made his debut for South Africa at fly-half in a 32–23 loss to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
at Ellis Park. In the following Test, also against France, he contributed five penalty goals in the 20–15 victory in
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
, but was later cited and suspended, missing South Africa's next match, against . He returned for the
2001 Tri Nations Series The 2001 Tri Nations Series was contested from 21 July to 1 September between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The Wallabies won another thrilling game at Stadium Australia in Sydney with number eight Tout ...
and started at fly-half in every game, though South Africa only managed to win the one match – 20–15 against
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
. James was a part of Springboks in November 2002, and was a reserve against a Test against France at
Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...
in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, and was subsequently moved to starting fly-half for a Test against
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. He was switched to inside centre for the following match against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. South Africa lost all of those end-of-season Tests including the 53–3 drubbing by England. James was included in the Springboks 2006 Tri Nations Series squad, playing in the 35–17 loss to the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
in
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
, as well as in the following match, against Australia in Sydney, which the Springboks lost 20–18, thanks to a late Wallaby try. James made an impact in the first half, though one of his cross-field kicks was intercepted and led to a
Mark Gerrard Mark Gerrard (born 4 September 1982) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. He currently is the assistant coach for the Austin Gilgronis in Major League Rugby (MLR) competition in the United States. In 2011, he was one of 1 ...
try. He was also selected for the end-of-year tour to Ireland and England. After being omitted from the squad for the game against Ireland, James started in the first game against England. In the first half, he scored a try with the help of Jean de Villiers, and at the start of the second half he set up a try for Springbok wing Akona Ndungane, the first of his career. Although he scored 14 points (a try, two penalties, and a conversion), South Africa narrowly lost the game, 23–21, and James had to be substituted after suffering another knee injury, which meant he missed South Africa's 14–25 win in the second Test against England. James was named in the Springboks squad for the
2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...
. He played in three pool matches, including those against and England, and in all three games in the knock-out stages. In the final, against England, his composure and ability to nullify the impact of his opposite number,
Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and French side Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scori ...
, helped South Africa to a 15–6 win.


Bath career

Following the 2007 World Cup tournament, James joined Bath Rugby. He made his debut in Bath's 28–6 victory over Auch in the European Challenge Cup on 10 November and was an immediate success. He was awarded "Man-of-the-Match" after scoring a superb individual try and setting up another with a deft cross-field chip-kick. On 1 February 2011 it was announced that James would be joining the Lions back in South Africa at the end of May. After his contract expired at the end of the 2012 season, he rejoined the .


References


External links

*
Butch James
on Springbok Rugby Hall of Fame
Butch James
Sharks Rugby profile {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Butch South African people of British descent 1979 births Living people Rugby union fly-halves South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Alumni of Maritzburg College Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Golden Lions players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Rugby union players from Johannesburg 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players Bath Rugby players South African expatriate rugby union players in England 21st-century South African sportsmen