![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1_GettyImages-2170358640-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n21-year-old Kane James is set to make his Test debut off the bench in San Juan this weekend<\/p>\n
Kane James will make his Wales debut this weekend(Image: Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Even on the night when Kane James was pulling on the red rose at the Arms Park, those within the Welsh Rugby Union were confident that – in the long-run – it would be Wales, rather than England, that he would choose.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, confidence within the governing body has been, shall we say, a little misplaced – but not on this occasion.<\/p>\n
A year after lighting up the U20s Six Nations<\/a> for England, James was committed to playing for the country of his birth.<\/p>\n Had injury not struck in January, the suggestion is that the 21-year-old would have been a part of Wales’ Six Nations squad.<\/p>\n In the end, the Exeter back-row had to wait a little longer. Not too long, though.<\/p>\n Now, after 17 senior appearances for Exeter, James is on the bench for Wales against Argentina in San Juan this Saturday.<\/p>\n Even with all their back-row riches, James could offer Steve Tandy’s side something different moving forward.<\/p>\n Going back to last year’s U20s Six Nations, James was a standout for England’s age-grade side.<\/p>\n He led the way for metres made, fourth in terms of defenders beaten, second in terms of dominant carries, fourth for dominant tackles, fifth for success tackles and third for post-contact metres.<\/p>\n Then, in his breakthrough season for Exeter this season, he provided a dynamic carrying threat in the Gallagher Prem finalists’ back-row.<\/p>\n James isn’t the biggest. In terms of height and weight, he’s smaller than Alex Mann.<\/p>\n Yet, when it comes to his carrying, he packs a punch.<\/p>\n There’s an explosiveness to his work with ball in hand, married up with footwork that, certainly at age-grade level, led to some eye-catching scores.<\/p>\n Space is at a premium at the highest level, but it’s a good combination to have.<\/p>\n Wales have some strong carriers at the minute.<\/p>\n Aaron Wainwright and Jac Morgan are at the peak of their powers, while Tandy has managed to do what Warren Gatland<\/a> never could and create an environment for Rhys Carre to thrive.<\/p>\n But given how few and far good carriers can be in Welsh rugby, another in the shape of James is no bad thing.<\/p>\n Those in Wales camp have already been impressed by James’ contributions.<\/p>\n \u201cKane is an exciting player,” said Tandy after naming him in his squad on Thursday. “He\u2019s so powerful and quick.<\/p>\n “The way he\u2019s come into the environment and just jumped straight in: he hasn\u2019t been tentative in anything he does. He creates a big energy in how he goes about his work; he\u2019s super diligent around everything, taking on the detail. I\u2019m really excited to see Kane get his first cap on the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Tandy’s other coaches have been just as effusive.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen a lot of him obviously playing for Exeter,” said attack coach Matt Sherratt last week. “The first session he came in, he had an immediate impact.<\/p>\n “He’s really busy, very powerful, he’s quick, he’s got a good skill set – it’s the first time I’ve seen that up close – and his soft skills are good.<\/p>\n “He’s very enthusiastic, coachable. So I think he’s got a big, big, big future with Wales.”<\/p>\n His new team-mates were just as taken aback by the impact he’s made.<\/p>\n “He’s very energetic – off the field as well,” said Dragons lock Ben Carter. “He’s seems full of energy.<\/p>\n “He’s very quick to get on the field and he’s very quick around the field as well. You notice when he’s there.<\/p>\n “He seems like he’s settled right in. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him.”<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"21-year-old Kane James is set to make his Test debut off the bench in San Juan this weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,11537,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-683083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-steve-tandy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}