The Ospreys have hailed the King, as he prepares for what will be his 200th competitive performance for the Region, this Saturday at Principality Stadium, against Cardiff Blues.
Versatile 28-year old James joins an exclusive club of just six to have hit that impressive landmark, following on from Ospreys legends Duncan Jones, Andrew Bishop, Alun Wyn Jones, Paul James and Dan Biggar.
He will complete his double century less than 10 years after making his debut in October 2008, as a replacement in a 9-all draw with Glasgow at the Liberty Stadium while still a teenager, only Biggar doing so in a shorter timescale.
Ospreys skipper, Justin Tipuric, led the tributes to King, the pair having both made their first Regional starts in the same game, against Bath at the Rec in November 09:
“James deserves the recognition he’ll get for reaching 200 games. It’s a great achievement and to do it so quickly says a lot about him as a person and a player.
“As someone who played alongside him as a youngster right at the start I don’t think either of us could ever have anticipated we’d achieve anything like we have over the last 10 years.
“He’s the kind of player who puts in so much hard work that probably never gets recognised but, behind the scenes, everybody at the Ospreys knows what he brings to the team and appreciate having him on our side.”
Meanwhile, Head Coach, Allen Clarke, paid tribute to a player who has shown remarkable durability:
“For the last nine and a half years Kingy has been a consistent performer for the Ospreys. To reach the '200 game milestone' for the club is a fantastic achievement.
"During this time he has often done what's best for the team playing at lock, blindside, open side and number eight. He's also been capped by Wales and on two occasions received the Coaches Player of the Year award.
"I'm sure Saturday will be a tremendously proud day for Kingy and his family. As a team we hope to make it a particularly memorable one."
Managing Director, Andrew Millward, added:
“It’s a huge achievement to play 200 times for any team, and James should be incredibly proud to be on a such an exclusive list of Ospreys.
“He came to our Region as a young man from North Wales back in 2008, and has made this his home. Since graduating to the senior side he has shown remarkable durability, almost an ever present in the line-up for approaching a decade. He’s still only 28 with at least another two years as an Osprey so you can only see that tally rising further.”