James's Story
James Turner's is one of the leading examples of a player who has converted their skills from the 15 a side game to Rugby Sevens. Born in Ashfield, James attended Newington College following in his fathers footsteps.
An outside back with exceptional finishing abilities, James represented the West Harbour Pirates in the Shute Shield from 2017 to 2020. He would burst onto the rugby scene in New South Wales after a stellar 2020 season where he led the competition in tries.
His performances saw him rewarded with a Super Rugby debut with the NSW Waratahs in 2021.
James, who has also been nicknamed 'The Jet', played four games for the Waratahs across two seasons.
He left the Pirates in 2021 to join Northern Suburbs Rugby, where stayed until 2022.
James then push his focus into the seven-a-side game and an Australian debut at the Los Angeles Sevens tournament where his side finished in third place. The win over Samoa in the third place playoff ensured Australia received enough points to win their first ever Sevens World Series, finishing two points higher than South Africa.
James continued to represent Australia across the Sevens World Series throughout 2023. His best performance came at the 2023 Cape Town Sevens where he was named in the tournament's dream team. Australia finished the event as a runners-up after going down to Argentina in the final.
James fondness for Los Angeles grew at the Sevens tournament they hosted in 2024, scoring three tries in a shining performance against the USA.
At Paris 2024 James played a part in the men's rugby sevens team's best-ever finish at an Olympic Games.
After going undefeated against Samoa (21-14), Kenya (21-7) and Argentina (22-14) in the pool stage they booked a spot in the semi-finals with an 18-0 shutout of the USA. The Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Fiji side awaited in the quarter-finals, where the Aussie's run was halted with a 7-31 loss.
There was another chance at a medal in the battle for bronze against South Africa hours later, with South Africa winning 26-19 to put Australia in fourth place.
Read More
