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Brock James 2005


 

Western Force sign Reds playmaker


July 04, 2005 - 4:10pm
Story by: Other

Queensland Reds playmaker Brock James has joined the Western Force in a two year deal.

The 23 year old fly-half represented Australia at Under 16, Under 19, Under 21 and Sevens levels.

At 1.82m and 88kg, James is a skilful and elusive runner with a solid kicking game.

Born in Victoria, James came to prominence through the South Australian rugby system, making the Australian Under 16 side despite playing in Division II of the National Championships.

After accepting a rugby scholarship in NSW, James went on to play for the national Under 19 team in 2000 and the Under 21 World Cup side in 2002 - where he kept Matt Giteau on the bench.

In 2004, James played for Taranaki in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship, where he won awards for Most Valuable Player, Best Back and Leading Point Scorer.

James was rewarded with a contract at the Queensland Reds, making 3 appearances during the 2005 Super 12 season.

"I'm really excited about joining the Western Force. It's a great opportunity to be working with the new team and John Mitchell," James said.

"I've had a bad run with injury this year, so I'm really looking forward to getting into it."

Western Force coach John Mitchell saw James' form in the NPC firsthand as coach of rival side Waikato.

"His play at Taranaki last year was outstanding; he was clearly in control of the game," said Mitchell. "His ability to turn defences around with his vision and tactical kicking was very impressive."

The arrival of James at the Western Force means the new team now has three young and immensely talented fly-halves/inside backs in James, Lachlan Mackay and Scott Daruda.

Western Force assistant coach John Mulvihill said the signing of James gives the team more options.

"James, Mackay and Daruda are all versatile young players, with the ability to play 10 (fly-half) and 12 (inside centre)."


WESTERN FORCE SQUAD


Richard Brown, Vitori Buatava, Brendan Cannon, Pek Cowan, Scott Daruda, Tim Davidson, Luke Doherty, David Fitter, Josh Graham, Gareth Hardy, Matt Henjak, James Hilgendorf, Matthew Hodgson, Luke Holmes, Digby Ioane, Brock James, Tai McIsaac, Lachlan MacKay, Chris O'Young, Alexander Peden, Junior Pelesasa, David Pusey, Angus Scott, Nathan Sharpe, Cameron Shepherd, Tahjon Smallman-Mailata, Brett Stapleton, Rudi Vedelago, John Welborn, AJ Whalley, Matt Windle

Source:http://www.rugby.com.au/news/


Brock James


Player Profile
Source: http://www.rugbywa.com.au/


A talented flyhalf with a knack for turning defences around with his strong kicking, Brock hails from South Australia - a State not known for producing rugby talent. After representing Australia at U19, U21 and Sevens level, he played for Taranaki in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship in 2004, and was named the team's most valuable player. Off the field, Brock loves the beach, the movies and a game of golf.


Lions tour match-by-match breakdown


01 June 2005
By DANIEL GILHOOLY

Match-by-match analysis of the British and Irish Lions' 11-game tour of New Zealand:

June 8: v Taranaki, New Plymouth

Another rugged affair is on the cards, with Taranaki perenially fielding forward packs loathe to take a backward step. The tight five remains a strength, anchored by veteran prop Gordon Slater and former All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore.

Will miss Australian first five-eighth Brock James, who guided the team to fifth in the NPC last year, missing the playoffs by a point. James isn't returning but a host of other talented backs were unveiled last year.

Rank behind Auckland, Canterbury and Otago as the Lions' most frequent opponents although haven't had a win since 1908.

1888: Great Britain 7 Taranaki Clubs 1, Taranaki Clubs 1 Great Britain 0. 1904: Great Britain 0 Taranaki/Wanganui/Manawatu 0. 1908: Taranaki 5 Anglo-Welsh 0. 1930: Lions 23 Taranaki 7. 1950: Lions 25 Taranaki 3. 1959: Lions 15 Taranaki 3. 1966: Lions 12 Taranaki 9. 1971: Lions 14 Taranaki 9. 1977: Lions 21 Taranaki 13. 1993: Lions 49 Taranaki 25.


Brock James a natural 5/8


From geeves athttp://www.planetnz.com/rugbyheads/ 10th April 2005


While we have Brock James in the side who is a natural 5/8. I saw him play the last couple of minutes against the Stormers in the first half. He touched the ball 3 times and each time he did something different: a clever inside pass, a nice long pass and a grubber behind the first line of defence. It was so refreshing to see someone reading the situation and using the players around him rather than going a little bomb or failed grubber and hoping something will happen.


Reds have announced their team


From: http://www.cup-rugby.com/super12/
Thursday, January 27, 2005


The Reds have announced their team to take on the Brumbies this Saturday. You can find the line-up here on theARU site. As anticipated, Ben Tune will take the field from the kick off at outside centre. Julian Huxley will also be playing, but Elton Flatley is still out injured as is John Roe, Caleb Brown and Brock James. Wendell Sailor, Nick Stiles, and Sean Hardman are all being rested.

The Brumbies have also announced their squad for the game which you can also find on the ARU sitehere. In all they have 8 players on debut for the Brumbies, but there's some talent there in those newbies including the Australian schoolboys co-captains Julian Salvi and Tatafu Polota-Nau.

Owen 'Melons' Finigan will captain the Brumbies in the game as Stirling Mortlock won't be playing.
I love both of these teams, and it's quite an interesting mix of players to take field for both sides. Time to dust off the cobwebs and give themselves a run. A trial game is a good opportunity to get the new players on the paddock as well.

Go Reds! See, while I love the Brumbies, I am a Queenslander!!

:)