James Simpson-Daniel
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James David Simpson-Daniel (born 30 May 1982 in Stockton-on-Tees) is an English rugby union footballer who plays wing, fullback or centre for Gloucester.
He attended Sedbergh School in the Lake District which has produced a number of professional rugby union players including Will Carling. 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. His Gloucester 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. He recovered for the Autumn internationals against Australia and New Zealand but was diagnosed with glandular fever and missed out on playing against South Africa. He was playing again within a few months and was able to be a part of Gloucester winning the cup.
He narrowly missed selection to the final 30 for the 2003 Rugby World Cup because of a back problem., although he had celebrated his first Six Nations Championship start some months earlier with a try in the match against Italy. Unluckily, injury once again prevented him playing a part in the 2004 Autumn series in November and he missed further game time for the build up to the 2005 Six Nations. Picked in the centre for England's final 2005 Autumn test against Samoa but a hip injury forced him off at half-time.
In 2006, he made the squad for England's tour of Australia and scored two tries in their win over the Barbarians on 28 May. However, he suffered a dead leg midweek during training, and as a result missed both tests, in which England were resoundingly beaten.
Once more, he has been beset by bad luck and has a communated fracture of his collarbone in a pre-season match, greatly reducing his chances of playing in the autumn tests.
