It was a start to spur on the hype. Pater’s gliding runs and timely support lines have already been attracting admiration for England Under-20s and Saints age-grade sides.
“James’ ceiling is incredibly high,” said Northampton boss Phil Dowson earlier this year., external
“He’s incredibly fast and dynamic. He always looks like he has time on the ball. He reads space exceptionally well, he’s strong under the high ball, his passing is top quality, he’s not afraid to carry the ball into contact or take defenders on, and he finds gaps you don’t think are there.”
Pater made similarly stealthy progress as a teenager.
He only started playing rugby aged 12.
“I always played football growing up,” Pater told BBC Sport.
“I didn’t start rugby until I went to secondary school and joined Huntingdon Stags.
“Before that it was always football, I played at a high level – Cambridge United’s senior development squad. I also played country cricket and some hockey.
“I only got through to Saints academy at 16, which was relatively late. Others were in it from 13 or so. It was coming up to GCSEs and I had to choose to concentrate on something, so I put football to the side.”
Around the same time, a star turn helped secure rugby as Pater’s priority.
One of the lots in a local charity auction , externalwas a coaching session with England legend Jonny Wilkinson.
“All the parents from our Shelford Under-16s put £50 in and about 15 of us went down to [England’s training base] Pennyhill Park to do a kicking session with him,” remembers Pater.
“It was really cool, so fun. I wasn’t in the Saints academy then, I just loved played rugby and it wasn’t something too serious. But to hear his wisdom was unbelievable.”
Last season, Pater played his own starring role in a training session. Before January’s Champions Cup meeting with Bordeaux-Begles, Dowson gave Pater the task of replicating mercurial France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert.
“He goes for a lot of chip and chase; little kicks through and likes to create opportunities against unstructured defence,” remembers Pater.
“I was just trying to challenge our boys and put people into space.”
Pater models his own game more on New Zealand’s Beauden Barrett, who shares the versatility to switch between 15 and 10, and Australia’s maverick stand-off Quade Cooper.
But at Northampton, inspiration is always close at hand.
“I remember being 17 or 18 in the academy, wanting to make it as a professional and watching Furbs [Furbank], George Hendy and Tommy Freeman tear it up,” Pater remembers.
Northampton’s production line of talent spins at a dizzying rate. Henry Pollock and Archie McParland – both 21 – are a cohort above Pater, and there is always a new crop of academy prospects blossoming at Franklin’s Gardens.
