Player Microscope – James Little

James Little: Second row

James hails from Llantrisant but is very much connected to Pontypridd by his family who are all from the town. James’ Ponty born and bred mother is a headteacher who fondly recalls current Ponty winger Dale Stuckey being in her classes at school.

But James’ rugby journey started when he joined Pontyclun at the age of 7. He played all his mini and junior rugby for the Badgers before moving to Llantrisant to play his youth rugby and later make his debut in senior rugby.

His representative rugby came when he was selected for the Vale District Under 11’s before playing for Pontypridd District U12-U15’s. He was also part of all the Cardiff Blues Age Grade sides growing up and played for Coleg y Cymoedd and Cardiff Met – whilst studying at university he gained international honours when he played for Wales Students against France Students.

James is now a resident of Graigwen who grew up watching Pontypridd play. He says: “I remember Shelly and Dico playing when I was about 11! My grandfather and I used to go every week to watch the team play and my grandmother actually cried when I signed for Ponty.” A family connection that he has to the club is through his girlfriend who is the sister of former Ponty scrum-half Jamie Hill – James wishes he’d had the opportunity to sign for the club prior to when he did so that he could have taken to the field with his brother-in-law.

James did finally get his boyhood wish when the abrasive lock signed for Pontypridd in February 2020, just before rugby, and life in general ground to a halt because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Before playing for Ponty, it’s been mentioned that James played for Llantrisant RFC and Cardiff Met and this was all before gaining experience at Welsh Premiership level – firstly with Newport in 2018 which was followed by a stint at Bridgend. James joked: “I’ve played against Ponty a good few times over the years so it feels great to finally wear the badge and have the crowd on my side for once!”

Finally, James said “Since I began playing rugby aged 7, I grew up watching and living in Pontypridd so to finally play for this historic club with the best supporters in the league really does mean a lot to myself and my family. My future ambition is to become a regular starter at the club and to win as many games as we can, with silverware and league titles as the biggest goal.”

James has made 2 appearances for Ponty to date – but hasn’t had much luck. He made his club debut in the opening round of Indigo Premiership Cup pool matches against former club Newport, but an injury curtailed an impressive debut which resulted in a couple of months on the side-lines. He had to wait until Ponty played Carmarthen Quins in the opening round of the Welsh Premiership a couple of weeks ago, this being his second appearance either side of two postponed matches away at RGC which he was due to be involved in.