James left Cardiff Blues for the Aviva Premiership outfit this summer having previously played all his professional rugby in the capital. The 26-year-old made 115 appearances for the region but felt the time was right to move on after an injury hit campaign last season.
Ironically, his debut in Chiefs colours is likely to be back on Welsh soil as the Devon-based club head to Llanelli to face the Scarlets on Saturday afternoon.
“It will be nice to go back to Wales. All my family are there and my friends and it will be good to have a run out,” said James.
“It was disappointing for me last year. People were coming up to me in my home town and saying ‘what’s happening, what are you doing?’ It was frustrating because it was such a stupid foot injury and to be out for seven months in total did break me a bit. I’m now fully recovered and I can kick on.
“I joined the Blues when I was 19 and I was there for six seasons. I could have gone stale. I just wanted a fresh start. There was no better place to do that than with Exeter – they finished sixth in the Premiership last year and were in a Heineken Cup spot again. I’m already learning every day from different players and that’s all I can ask for.”
James admits that his early days with Exeter were far from plain sailing thanks to the injury issues that restricted him to just a single game in the second part of last season, but he insists he now feels ready to reproduce his best form – the kind of form he hopes will remind Wales head coach Warren Gatland of his capabilities ahead of the Dove Mens Series and the 2014 RBS 6 Nations.
“Because I was injured for seven months, it was tough then coming to Exeter. I came here out of shape – I was about a stone overweight. Now I’m ready for the season,” added James, who is joined by fellow former Blues star Ceris Sweeney and Wales prop Craig Mitchell at Sandy Park.
“It was frustrating because I’m keen to win everything I do, that’s just the attitude I’ve got, but when I first came here I was 30 seconds behind everyone and that was tough. Now I’ve lost the weight, I’m enjoying it.
“Having played for Wales, you just want to play for Wales again. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got five awesome wingers there, it’s everybody’s ambition.
“If Wales come knocking, it’s a bonus. If you play well, there’s no reason why they can’t pick you. All I can do is improve and I want to do that in every aspect of my game.”
