James While – Managing Editor.

Playing Career:

Flanker or No 8

Wolverhampton RFC 1980-84
St Mary’s College
Headingley 1st XV 1984/5
Birmingham and Solihull 1st XV 1985-91
Walsall RFC 1991-95
Worcester RFC 1995-7
Stourport and Bewdley vets 1997-2000

Keen cricketer (Opening Bat and Seamer)- currently playing Middlesex
Premier League; MCC representative honours and 2 overseas MCC tours
and selected for a further tour in April 2011; represented MCC Elite
on several occasions. Midlands Club Cricket Rep XI tourist 2003 and
represented on many occasions. Captain of Duke of Norfolk’s XI at
Arundel Castle 1995 -2011. Played and coached professionally in Natal,
South Africa 1987-89. I have scored 88 club centuries to date and I am
determined to join an elite list of club cricketers who have 100
100’s. It may take time though……

Now a rugby and business journalist; regular contributor to Planet
Rugby and BSkyB, Campaign Magazine, Marketing Magazine; member of
Rugby Writers Club. Ghosted and wrote many articles for James Caan of
Dragons’ Den fame 2007-2011, and also handled his PR and Corporate Affairs.

I also co-own a talent and management
agency in Dance, Choreography and Casting, and devised the format for
BBC’s Move Like Michael Jackson TV show in 2009.

To have the opportunity to combine my two favourite activities- rugby
and writing- for rucking ball is a dream ticket for me. As a
sportsman, I lacked a large degree of talent and was not particularly
gifted other than having immense passion for my sports. I did enjoy a
good degree of natural strength and power, but needed to perform well
above my talent level to play at the standard I wanted to. That meant
I had to use every tool at my disposal to become better- whether that
was nausing the pants of the senior players I played with, or seeking
advice from generous coaches of yesteryear like Jim Greenwood or Rex
Hazeldine. Whatever it took, I was prepared to do it and I’m proud
that, whilst not scaling the dizzy heights of some of the careers on
here, I have fulfilled my natural ability level.

To have all of this technical information in one resource at my
fingertips would have been a real benefit for my playing career, both
in cricket and rugby.  A fundamental responsibility of any keen
sportsman is putting something back into the sports that have given
you so much pleasure, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to
work with some of the game’s icons on this site, and to be in a
position to put that advice into practice for the players of both
today and tomorrow. It also may change my rather biased perception
that rugby begins at the number 6 and ends at the number 8!

I’ll speak to you somewhere on ruckingball.