James Simpson-Daniel

Who is James Simpson-Daniel?

James David Simpson-Daniel is an English rugby union footballer who plays wing or centre for Gloucester Rugby.

He attended Red House School & Sedbergh School in the Yorkshire Dales, which has produced a number of professional rugby union players including Will Greenwood, Will Carling and Phil Dowson, with whom he played alongside in the same XV. He began playing for the Yorkshire Under 18s and then the North East Under 18s. While his schoolmates were attending university open days, he was visiting professional rugby union clubs. He eventually chose Gloucester Rugby. His Gloucester Rugby debut was against Rotherham in 2001, when he scored a superb individual try.

He represented England at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2002 and scored a hat trick in the final, which England won. He flew back and followed it up with a hat trick in a club game against Bath. Four days before his twentieth birthday he rounded Jonah Lomu to score a famous try for an uncapped England XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham.

He made his international debut for England against New Zealand in November 2002. An injury to his foot meant that he missed a tour to Argentina.