James Lentjes

James Anthony Richard Lentjes (born 16 January 1991) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. His position was Flanker.

Early career Born and raised in the city of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand, Lentjes was educated at St Bede's College in his hometown where he won a secondary schools title in 2008. After finishing school, he made his way through the system, becoming a member of their wider training group in 2013 as well as playing for the Crusaders development team. He played club rugby in Canterbury with the university club, however due to a lack of opportunities to make the star studded Canterbury ITM Cup side, he headed south to Dunedin and began playing club rugby for Taieri. He holds a university degree in geology and geography and worked as a lab technician for Fulton Hogan prior to his rugby career.

Senior career His move to Dunedin quickly paid off and after one season in club rugby, he made the Otago squad for the 2014 ITM Cup and went on to play eight games in his debut season, scoring one try. Injuries restricted him to just 6 appearances in 2015, but in that time he managed to score 5 tries which helped his side reach the Championship semi finals before they were well beaten by . He was back to full fitness in 2016, featuring in 10 out of 12 matches for Otago during a season which saw them finish top of the championship standings - reaching the final before being defeated at home by . He was a consistent performer for the side during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons and was rewarded in 2020 - being named as the Highlanders captain, however his season was cut short in only his fourth game as he suffered a horrific ankle injury ruling him out for the rest of the year.