Tom James is expected to make his full Wales debut against world champions South Africa at the Millennium Stadium - a landmark moment in his life which might never have been on the cards had fate not lent a hand.

At the age of 11 rugby union lost the Blues wing to athletics, a sport which he pursued in earnest over the proceeding seven years.

He became an accomplished 1,500metre runner, clocking an impressive personal best time of three minutes 43 seconds.

But his rugby career was put back on track when he decided to give up athletics on his 18th birthday.

After that he played for Merthyr, and only a year ago he was turning out for the Cardiff semi-professional side in the Welsh Principality Premiership.

Twelve months on, he is set to run out on the wing for Wales after Shane Williams was ruled out of the Wales squad with a thigh injury.

"The last year has gone so quickly. I was playing for the Cardiff club side. I was playing well for that team and scoring a few tries and had a chance then with the Blues up in Edinburgh," the 20-year-old recalls.

"I played rugby when I was 11 and then lost interest and took up athletics. I lost interest in rugby, because there seemed to be favouritism in the Rhymney Valley Schools. I was good at athletics, and people more or less said to me 'choose one sport' - so I chose athletics.

"I was doing times of 3:43 when I was 17 or 18. I looked up to athletes like Seb Coe and I watched videos of their races. I have not been timed over 100m - but if my 40m time continued I would be about 10.8 seconds.

"I came back to rugby then when I was 18. I decided on my 18th birthday. Continuing with athletics and working was too hard. I was getting up and running then needing to get into work for 6am.

"I was working in a factory at Ebbw Vale, cutting cables. It was boring and playing rugby is a lot better."

Now he faces the prospect of coming up against Springbok wonder wing Bryan Habana, although James refuses to be fazed by the prospect.

"I have to treat him the same as any other winger, going into the game," he reasons.

"It is nice to play against the best winger in the world.

We have to make sure he does not get enough space and close him down as quickly as possible.

"It is an honour to play for your country - and to play at home in front of, I hope, 70,000 people would be a big achievement.

It is a big game. I am still learning every game not just on the field, but what happens off the field as well.

"Shane is going to be a tough act to follow, because he can change a game. He could be out of the game for about 60 minutes and then, with one touch of the ball, he creates some magic."

James' first cap was a brief appearance in the World Cup warm-up match against England, who thrashed an under-strength Wales team at Twickenham in the summer.

"The memories of that England game were, as soon as I came on Jason Robinson chipping the ball over my head and scoring. It was a disappointing day. It was hard to tell the pace of international rugby but it seems to be just above Heineken Cup rugby."

James was not disappointed to be left out of Wales' World Cup campaign - because he never for a moment thought he might be involved.

"I knew I was not going to be involved in the World Cup squad, because if I had been in the selection mix then I would have been given more game time against England," he said.

"I came back to the Blues and missed the first three games through a calf injury. But since then I have played seven matches and played well, with a few tries."

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