James William Eddie was voted under-18 Scottish player of the year in 2003, and that honour was followed by his being named young player of the year at the Glasgow Rugby Awards Dinner in April 2004 He followed that up with the William Purves Quaich as Outstanding Scottish Young Player of the Year in 2006.

James played for Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians before joining Glasgow as an apprentice in summer 2004. He has represented Scotland at under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels as well as Scotland A and the national seven-a-side squad. He made his A international debut as a replacement in the 37-15 win against Italy at Mogliano, near Venice, in February 2008, and a further appearance from the bench followed three weeks later in the 67-7 win against Ireland A at McDiarmid Park, Perth. Three more Scotland A games followed in the Barclays Churchill Cup in North America, with starts at blind side against Canada and England Saxons. His Scotland A tally stretched to eight appearances when he played in all three matches in the IRB Nations Cup success in Bucharest in June 2009.

His under-19 honours included playing all 10 of Scotland’s 2004 internationals, five of them in the IRB World Junior Championship in South Africa, when he scored a try in the 35-5 win against Italy. Injury kept him out of Scotland’s squad for the 2005 matches in the under-21 six nations, but in June that year he played in all five games in the age group’s world championship in Mendoza, Argentina, as well as continuing as an ever-present for the 10 internationals in 2006, including the world championship in France.
His short-game debut was in Dubai in the opening tournament of the 2009-2010 IRB World Series, and he went on to play also in the George (South Africa) event a week later.

James was a member of the Glasgow Rugby Academy and the West of Scotland Institute of Sport before graduating to a full-time professional contract in the summer of 2006. He made his senior Glasgow debut as a replacement in the 26-20 away win over Munster in February 2006 and played in all but one for Glasgow’s subsequent matches. Injury prevented him from being available for the first three months of the 2006-2007, but his comeback coincided with his European debut as a replacement in the 51-7 victory against Narbonne at Hughenden in December that season.