James began his professional rugby career at Bridgend RFC in 1995 after coming up through the ranks of Kenfig Hill RFC. After 43 appearances for Bridgend, he moved to Pontypridd RFC in 1997, where he played his part in the infamous Battle of Brive (Heineken cup clash 1997) and went on to make 54 club appearances in two years. In 1999 James moved to West Wales to play his rugby and enjoyed his first stint at Llanelli playing 52 games and scoring 145 points. He returned to Bridgend in 2001 (which later became the Celtic Warriors regional side in 2003), 2004 saw James move to London to play for Harlequins, before being temped back to Wales only a year later to return for the Llanelli Scarlets where he stayed until 2009.
