Jamie Jones-Buchanan

Jamie Jones-Buchanan

Personal information
Nickname	Jonesy, JJB
Born	(1981-08-01) 1 August 1981 Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Weight	15 st 6 lb (98 kg)[1]
Playing information
Position	Second-row
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1999–	Leeds Rhinos	359	71	0	0	284
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2005–12	England	14	3	0	0	12
2007	Great Britain	1	0	0	0	0
As of 2 December 2016

Jamie Jones-Buchanan (born 1 August 1981) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays for Leeds of Super League. An England and Great Britain international representative second-rower,^[2][3] he has played his entire professional career to date with Leeds and has won six Super League championships, three World Club Challenges, three League Leaders Shields and one Challenge Cup Final with the club.

Playing career

Jones-Buchanan is the half-brother of Catalans Dragons and former Leeds Academy player Jodie Broughton his other half-brothers Austin Buchanan and Brooke Broughton are also professional rugby league players. He began playing rugby at Stanningley ARLFC and progressed through the Leeds Academy signing for the club when he was 15 years old. His Leeds début was on 07/05/1999 against Wakefield Trinity.

Jones-Buchanan played for the Leeds Rhinos from the interchange bench in their 2004 Super League Grand Final victory against the Bradford Bulls.^[4] As Super League IX champions, the Rhinos faced 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs in the 2005 World Club Challenge. Jones-Buchanan played at second-row forward and scored a try in Leeds' 39-32 victory.^[5] Jones-Buchanan played for Leeds in the 2005 Challenge Cup final from the interchange bench in their loss against Hull FC.^[6] He played for the Leeds Rhinos from the interchange bench in their 2005 Super League Grand Final loss against Bradford Bulls.

Jones-Buchanan started in the 2007 Super League XIV Grand Final victory over St. Helens. Scoring the final try in a historic 33-6 win at Old Trafford. ^[7]

In February 2008, Jones-Buchanan helped the Rhinos secure their second world club title as they defeated 2007 NRL season premiers, the Storm in the 2008 World Club Challenge at Elland Road. ^[8]

Jones-Buchanan played in 2008's Super League XIII Grand Final victory over St. Helens.^[9] He was named in the England squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.^[10] Jamie Jones-Buchanan's Testimonial match at Leeds took place in 2009. That year Jones-Buchanan also played a key role in the Rhinos winning the League Leaders Shield ^[11] This was followed by the Rhinos becoming the first team in the Super League era to win three titles in a row as they defeated St. Helens once again at Old Trafford winning 18-10. ^[12]

Jones-Buchanan did not enjoy the same level of success in the Challenge Cup however. Having lost to Hull FC in 2005, Jones-Buchanan started all three of the Rhinos successive losses at Wembley between 2010 and 2012. Jones-Buchanan played at second-row forward for Leeds in the 2011 Challenge Cup final which was lost to Wigan and the 2010 Challenge Cup and 2012 Challenge Cup losses to Warrington.

However, along with team mates Kevin Sinfield, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow and Ryan Bailey he continued his period of unprecedented success in the Grand Final. All five players, who had emerged from the club's academy would go on to win six Grand Finals together defeating old foes St. Helens in 2011 ^[13] before over turning Warrington in the 2012 Super League Grand Final when Leeds made more history by winning the title after finishing fifth two years running.^[14] As well as winning back to back titles, the Rhinos had also started 2012 by becoming World Champions for a third time as they defeated Sea Eagles at a sold out Headingley in the 2012 World Club Challenge. ^[15]

In 2013, Jones-Buchanan crossed for a try in the 2013 World Club Challenge against Storm but the Rhinos lost out to the 2012 NRL season premiers 18-14 at Headingley. ^[16]

Jones-Buchanan finally got his hands on the 2014 Challenge Cup when Leeds defeated Castleford at Wembley, winning 23-10,^[17] but missed the 2015 Challenge Cup final due to an injury suffered in the semi final win over St.Helens. ^[18]

Personal life

He is married to Emma Jones-Buchanan, whom he met when he was 14, and has four children, Bane, Lore, Dacx and Kurgan. He is a devout Christian and attends church on Sundays.^[19] He has also supported the White Ribbon Campaign, a charity that encourages men to challenge violence against women. ^[20]

Away from rugby, Jamie is a huge part of his local community in Leeds. He regular attends Christian worship across the country to speak about his own life journey and is a trustee of the Leeds Rhinos Foundation, the charitable trust who work in the Leeds community.^[21] He is also a governor at his former school Priesthorpe School in Leeds ^[22]

A number of years ago, Jones-Buchanan began an interesting in journalism and reporting on sport and Rugby League in general. What began as a blog on the Rhinos official website soon became a monthly column in Rugby League magazine Rugby League World. From here Jones-Buchanan joined forces with childhood friend Alex Simmons on a new TV and radio project called Rugby AM. He joined the Rugby AM team in December 2013 and has been an ever-present since, putting in an incredible amount of hard work in his spare time to help Rugby AM grow. When he is not playing or training, it is likely you will see JJB doing some form of work for Rugby AM. ^[23]

In 2016, Jones-Buchanan took on another new role, that of acting. Jones-Buchanan made his stage debut in the Red Ladder Theatre Company production Leeds Lads, which has received rave reviews from audiences. Fans had a chance to see Jamie in the play which ran between Friday 17th June 2016 and Saturday 25th June 2016 at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds. ^[24]

Coinciding with the centenary anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, Leeds Lads follows a young woman’s journey into Leeds’ secret past - this vibrant production transports audiences from the turmoil and tensions of war, to the richly multi-cultural city we know today.

Leeds Lads is a new play about the people of Leeds, past and present – their fears, their love and their friendships, performed by the people of Leeds today. Selected through open audition, the community cast has had the opportunity to perform and learn about professional theatre under the direction of Red Ladder’s Artistic Director, Rod Dixon working in collaboration with Antony Clavane and Nick Stimson - the writers behind the acclaimed Promised Land.

References

External links

• England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
• Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
• Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org