Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Rugby Union starlet links up with Newcastle Falcons
James has been training with the Falcons as part of their pre-season preparations, testing his mettle against full time professional players.
“This has been a really good opportunity for me to learn more about rugby and see how I stand up against full time players.” James said.
Alongside training with the Falcons, James has also been training with Leeds Beckett, who have been in pre-season for the past fortnight.
James says there are a lot of similarities in the way the Falcons and Beckett have been training, despite the differences between training with full time professionals and Leeds Beckett.
“There are actually some similarities to how we train here and how they train at Newcastle.
“The standard of rugby is obviously different because they are a full time professional team with men who are older, but we do train a lot at Leeds Beckett and it’s a really good environment.”
James aims to bring back some tricks of the trade from the Falcons and implement them into the culture at Leeds Beckett RU.
“Hopefully I can bring back some tips from the way that Newcastle play and tap into the mindset of their players,” he said.
“I will be focusing on the little things that the best players do to push themselves on and hopefully bring that mentality back to Leeds Beckett.”
A change in mentality has been seen by Leeds Beckett Rugby Programme Manager Kerry Wood, who has noticed a winning edge to James since joining the Falcons.
“James has come back with a real competitive edge since starting with Newcastle,” Kerry said.
“I’ve seen a change in how he approaches training, he’s looking to win at every challenge and he’s trying to bring in what he’s learnt at Newcastle into the team, which is really pleasing.”
James will be hoping that edge will help out his side in their opening Super Rugby fixture against the University of Bath on Wednesday 27 September, a fixture the team have their sights on.
“We really need to start the season well against Bath, hopefully we can get a win and then we’ll have Varsity the week after that but it’s all eyes on this BUCS league for us.” he said.
James also offers advice for first year students looking to get involved with the Club.
“When you first get here it is really daunting because there are a lot of big lads and big characters in the team, but they’re all really great lads,” he said.
“I think people should definitely stick it out because the first three months or so with the dark nights in winter it can be a lot to take in but I was so glad I stuck it out.”
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James is pictured with Leeds Beckett Rugby Programme Manager Kerry Wood.