England U20 full-back James Pater makes an immediate impact for club & country

Paul Eddison catches up with Northampton Saints and England U20 full-back, who is also playing games for Cambridge.

For a young player who spent his early years playing club rugby for Shelford, it was fitting that budding superstar James Pater made his Champ Rugby debut for Cambridge, less than five miles away.

On the books at Northampton Saints, Pater – who can play at full-back or fly-half and was player of the match in Northampton’s Prem Cup victory over Saracens yesterday – has been a viral sensation for his exploits with the England age-group sides and has also featured for the Prem side on a number of occasions.

But in a bid for a bit more senior game time, he pitched up at Cambridge at the start of January and made an immediate impact.

Even in a Cambridge team that has found wins hard to come by in Champ Rugby this season, Pater seized his chance with both hands, scoring a remarkable hat-trick.

Thrilled

And while Shelford and Cambridge were rivals when he was a youngster, he was thrilled at the chance to run out for the Blood & Sand.

He said: “I got told I was going to be at Cambridge on the Monday, then I trained the full week, and luckily enough, I started.

“They had a few injuries, which gave me a good opportunity. I enjoyed Hartpury away, everything about it.

“Cambridge are struggling at the moment, but they have the right idea, the right game plan.

“Hopefully, they get a few wins; they are nice lads. It was similar messages to what we get at Saints. They were saying ‘you’re here for a reason so back yourself’.

“They were all messages that were consistent throughout and allowed me to do what I did.

“Cambridge is my neck of the woods. I played at Shelford, which is right nearby. I went to school in Cambridge and I’m only about 10 miles away.

“Growing up, there was a bit of rivalry between Shelford and Cambridge, but no bad blood when I’m playing for Cambridge.”

Rising star

Given that he has already made a full debut for Saints at 18 and is rated as one of the rising stars of the game in England, it is surprising that Pater was not always destined for the top.

In fact, there was a period where his focus was more on football than rugby, before realising that his path to success would require an oval ball.

He added: “I did all sports when I was growing up – I’ve got two older brothers, so I mixed and matched – I played football until Year 10 and then decided to focus on rugby instead.

“I played throughout school, cricket, hockey, everything. I got into the academy at Saints quite late, at 16 – I hadn’t pursued it professionally before.

“It was going further than the football; I was in the Cambridge senior development squad, not their academy, so I was not really pushing anything.

“I thought I might as well take this more seriously. I went straight into the U18s and made my academy debut four or five months after I had joined.”

Standout player

Pater was a key contributor as Northampton won the Prem U18s league last season, while he has been one of the standout players for England U20s in the Six Nations.

He also recently had a big role to play for Northampton in their preparations for a Champions Cup rematch with Bordeaux-Bègles last month.

In a bid to gear up for the challenge of nullifying France and Bordeaux fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, Phil Dowson gave Pater free reign to challenge the Saints defence.

Pater said: “I was given free licence to do whatever I wanted. It was an enjoyable session just trying to chip and chase and test the defence.

“It’s what I want to be, a 10/15, who plays what they see in front of them. I enjoy playing 15, the time and space you get, seeing what the threats are and taking it from there.

“But I’m easy playing both, 10 is another string to your bow. I wouldn’t say I’ve committed to one, but I’d say I probably enjoy full-back more.”

Big finish

While his Cambridge debut was at full-back, Pater has also shown he can run a game from 10, masterminding Saints’ East Midlands derby success over Leicester Tigers in the Prem Cup last month.

For the last three weeks, his attentions have turned to the England U20s, where he has produced three impressive displays at full-back.

England won their opening two games but lost to Ireland last week and Pater is gearing up for a big finish, adding: “The hope is always to win; hopefully we can still win the Six Nations.”

If the U20s is Pater’s immediate focus, there is also a decision to be made over what the second half of the season will look like.

The main priority is to get more game time with Saints, with a knee injury suffered by Italian youngster Edoardo Todaro potentially opening up the chance for more opportunities in the back three.

But Pater also knows that there is plenty to be gained from game time in the Champ, with Cambridge and Bedford Blues both having ties to Northampton.

It will take something special to keep up his strike-rate of three tries a game, but both teams would no doubt welcome a player of Pater’s potential.

Follow the 2025-26 Champ Rugby season on www.champrugby.com