Brock James 2012

 

Aussie James steers Clermont home

By AAP, 23 Dec 2012

Two late penalties from Australian five-eighth Brock James helped Clermont edge past struggling Bordeaux 28-24 in French rugby's Top 14 on Friday.

It was a relief for coach Vern Cotter who made 14 changes to the Clermont team which defeated Leinster in the European Cup last weekend.

Leading 12-9 at the interval, Clermont conceded two tries in the space of five second-half minutes with Louis-Benoit Madaule and New Zealand hooker Ole Avei both scoring for Bordeaux.

With Bordeaux 24-22 ahead with just seven minutes remaining, James, who replaced David Skrela, nudged his team in front before securing victory with another successful kick in the final minute.

"Bordeaux had prepared for this match for a few weeks and you could see that in the tackle, they played out of their skins," said Cotter.

"We were under pressure in the first 20 minutes. But we are satisfied with the group. We made 14 changes and I was delighted with the spirit.

"We learnt a lot from the first half - Brock James, in particular, in terms of territory and placement."

The win lifted Clermont into second place on the ladder, three points behind leaders Toulon who go to second-bottom Agen on Saturday.
© AAP 2013

Ra said | December 23rd 2012 @ 8:39am |

Call this boy a classic world class journey man as of right.

I don't know what his play was like in Australia, but he and James Hilgendorf played fantastic NPC and Ranfurley Shield rugby for Taranaki in the early 2000?s. They are still regarded highly by Taranaki people as rugby players, as guys and as great ambassadors for their country. A big call for rugby mad Taranaki. But the guys deserve it. They were sited by Kiwi super rugby teams when that competition got started, but returned home instead.

Brock James had and judging by this article, still has a radar boot, who kicked Taranaki clear on many occasions.

Hilgendorf was a terrific running fullback and James dominated games with recision from five eight. They must of had some sort of ancient Aboriginal sign language because their combination and ability to find each other on the field was uncanny.
Maybe both of these boys should have got a call up by Robbie this year?

Below is an extract from a report of a game in 2004 when James marked up against Daniel Carter for Taranaki against the much vaunted Canterbury team.

"Taranaki's Australian duo of first five-eighth Brock James and fullback James Hilgendorf contributed 25 points, with Hilgendorf scoring two tries and playmaker James kicking three penalties and three conversions.
With two minutes remaining, James gave his team a little more breathing space by kicking his third penalty goal to make it 30-23 and the home side held on desperately until the final whistle. This apparently was Taranaki's first win over Canterbury in an NPC fixture since 1978, but you can read the mach report yourselves.

Good on ya Brock, a great Aussie battler.