California native Ryan James Jr played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2022, and again between 2024-2025. He represented the Colorado Raptors (2020), the LA Giltinis (2021-2022), and the San Diego Legion (2024-2025) in MLR, as well as the American Raptors in Super Rugby Americas (2023).

The San Diego native played with the San Diego Legion academy side in 2019 before being picked up by the Colorado Raptors in November 2019 ahead of the 2020 MLR season in which he made his debut before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. following the 2020 season, the Colorado Raptors pulled out of MLR and the league held a dispersal draft in which James was selected by the Dallas Jackals ahead of their inaugural MLR season in 2021. However, due to uncertainties raised by the ongoing pandemic, the Dallas Jackals delayed their entry into MLR until the 2022 season, and James was picked up by the LA Giltinis in a second dispersal draft for players signed with the Jackals.

James earned 15 appearances for LA in their inaugural season, 13 in the regular season (6 starts) and 2 in the Championship Series, scoring 5 tries total including a brace in the Giltinis‘ 17-13 Semifinal victory over the Utah Warriors, en route to lifting the MLR Shield in their first season. James followed up this impressive season with another 10 caps (6 starts) in 2022, scoring 1 try before the Giltinis was disqualified from the 2022 season just before the Championship Series, along with the Austin Gilgronis. After the Giltinis ceased operations James signed with his old club, rebranded as the American Raptors, ahead of their inaugural season in the Super Rugby Americas competition.

On 23rd October 2023, the San Diego Legion announced that they had signed Ryan James for the 2024 MLR season, where finally got a chance to represent his local team at MLR level, scoring 1 try in 12 games (all starts) for the Legion and racking up over 800m in possession as San Diego finished the regular season with a strong 11-5 record. James did not feature in the Legion’s 2024 playoffs. On November 14th, 2024, the San Diego Legion announced the return of Ryan James for their 2025 season, James’ 5th in MLR.

Achievements:

• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 13
• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 10
• 2021 MLR Champion: LA Giltinis