James Roxburgh was educated at the Kings School, Parramatta where he represented the school in Athletics, Rowing and Rugby.
After leaving school in 1963, James played rugby for Sydney University where he was studying Law. James was a hard, durable, determined and strong scrummaging loose head prop who more than made up for his perceived lack of size with the mobility of a breakaway.
James was awarded a Sydney University Blue in 1965 and played in two Shute Shield winning teams in 1968 & 1970. He captained the 1970 winning team. James retired from competitive rugby at the end of the 1971 season after eight years with University.
James first represented Sydney in 1968 in a narrow loss to the All Blacks 9-14. He then starred for the Junior Wallabies against the touring All Blacks and was selected for the First Test against the All Blacks in Sydney, again a narrow loss 9-14. He was then selected to play the second Test against the All Blacks in Brisbane which was a dramatic loss, in the last minute of the game, 18-19.
All up, James played in 9 Tests for Australia in a career that spanned 3 years from 1968 to 1970. Four Tests against South Africa, two against the All Blacks and one each against France, Scotland & Wales.
He cut short his representative tour by joining 6 other players who refused to play South Africa during their tour to Australia in 1971 due to their stand against apartheid.
In 1997, James Roxburgh was selected as the loose head prop in Sydney University’s greatest team made up of players who played for the Club from 1920 to 1994.
James went on 2 overseas trips with SUFC. He was a member of the first ever overseas tour by SUFC in the summer of 1968-69. The team played 7 games on tour, 6 in California and one in Honolulu all against American Universities. It was an amazing tour as it was in the middle of drastic change in the community and the Universities. It was a time of hippie flower power in San Francisco, topless & bottomless waitresses, Kent State University shootings and University marches demonstrating against Viet Nam.
James also played in the SUFC team that was invited to play Otago University in NZ in 1969 to celebrate Otago’s 100th anniversary. SUFC won a close match and were shouted a week-long bus tour of the South Island by our hosts. It was a huge amount of fun.
James will be remembered for his amazing sporting ability, his sheer determination and his speed around the paddock. He was a mild-mannered man off the field but brave and resilient on the paddock. He was truly one of the great Australian rugby players.
He will also be remembered for his intellect, his love of literature, his sense of humour, and his ability to laugh at himself. He was a great friend to all.
He will be sadly missed especially by his wife Carolyn, daughters Tess & Ruth and son, Rupert.