Liam Botham has spoken of the family’s “huge” pride as son, James, is set to make his Test debut for Wales in Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup clash against Georgia.

The Cardiff Blues academy product was called into Wayne Pivac’s squad on Monday, and slots straight into the back row alongside Aaron Wainwright and captain Justin Tipuric.

The back row is rewarded for the fine form he’s shown in Cardiff Blues colours at the start of this season, having shined alongside fellow academy graduate, Shane Lewis-Hughes, who has also been called up to the international squad over the autumn campaign.

James, who was born in the capital, has followed in the footsteps of father, Liam, who represented Cardiff on the wing between 1997 and 2000, scoring 42 tries in 72 appearances.

Botham said: “His name is James, his nickname in the family is Jimbo, it seems a Welsh thing he is called Jim,” said Botham.

“We are hugely proud of him. He has had some injury worries in the last few years, has come through that and has shown the potential he has got.

“He is nowhere near the finished article, but he has the bit between his teeth. He has got some very good people around him at Cardiff Blues, they have shown some support and we are starting to see the dividends.

“I have never doubted he has the attributes with the speed, agility and physicality, and a back-row position is something you need to play to get used to.

“Jimbo and Shane Lewis-Hughes have come together through the under-18s and 20s and will build a fantastic partnership for Cardiff and hopefully for Wales.

“That back-row is probably one of the strongest positions in Welsh rugby. The call-up has probably come a bit earlier than we expected, but it was not a surprise.”

Liam toured South Africa with England, but missed out on a Test cap, and also played rugby league for Leeds Rhinos and cricket for Hampshire.

Sporting talent clearly runs in the Botham blood, but Liam said there was no doubt around which colour jersey James wanted to wear in the Test arena.

The former Cardiff wing added: “It has always been Wales for him. I am not on any form of social media myself but I was reading an article in the Times and saw some of the comments [questioning this].

“Jimbo has never thought of himself as anything but Welsh. He was born there while I was playing at Cardiff and his earliest memories are as a two or three-year-old kicking that ball around the Arms Park at the end of games.

“His bedroom had to be in the Welsh colours. He never had a doubt, he never looked elsewhere. He played all the junior levels with Wales. James has only ever wanted to be 100% a Welsh player.

“When I was playing with Cardiff, Graham Henry sounded me out briefly about qualifying through residency for Wales. The approach came a bit out of the blue.

“Because I had been born in England and played for them at junior level and England cricket at that age, I saw myself as an Englishman with respect to that. I was also on the verge of playing England A as well which I was picked for soon after.

“I had the best time of my professional career with Cardiff and I give a huge thanks to [then-owners] Peter and Stan Thomas, who gave me that opportunity.

“Peter also arranged for him to come down for trials because it was always going to be Jimbo’s passion to come back to Cardiff.

“I was privileged to be playing with the likes of Jonathan Humphreys, Martyn Williams and Neil Jenkins who are now on the Welsh coaching and management set-up. Jimbo will learn so much from them. It is a fantastic set-up. I think people need to give these guys time and he could not be in a better place.

“James has coped very well growing up because he has had the talent and there is no substitute for that.

“There is no pressure on him, although there is always the pressure of the name Botham, but he has done things his own way.

“When he gets his first cap, it will be up there with the best of everything. I enjoyed my sporting career, but never got a cap and everybody knows what my dad did.

“It will be a proud moment for everybody and top everything for me because I brought him into this world.

“There will be no prouder moment and I would think my dad would say it is up there as well for him.

“Current circumstances dictate we can’t be there and it might never be the same as being in that stadium listening to the thousands of people singing the anthem and creating that atmosphere. But it is a cap and it will be the proudest moment of his life – and mine.

“It has always been rugby for him, he went to two rugby-dominated schools so football was always second fiddle. He was a very talented sportsman with a low golf handicap.

“His cricket was always pretty good but it was always rugby. And Welsh rugby.”