James Elliott has returned for a second spell at Newcastle Falcons, with the Jersey Reds scrum-half signing until the end of the current season.

The Co. Durham native helped Jersey win the RFU Championship title last season and started for the Channel Island outfit three weeks ago when they won away at Bath in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Elliott, 25, studied at Leeds Beckett University and was in the Falcons’ senior academy – the England Students international going on to play for Yorkshire Carnegie before spending the last three seasons with Jersey.

A product of Durham City RFC, Elliott said: “It’s been a crazy week or so with everything that’s happened at Jersey, but I’m grateful to be back with Newcastle Falcons and I’m keen to get amongst it.

“The club has changed a lot since I left, but in many ways it also hasn’t. It’s quite surreal because last time I was here I was a 19-year-old kid. I’m still finding my feet but there are lots of familiar faces, and the young lads who were living in Jesmond at the time have all pushed out to Gosforth with wives, dogs and kids!”

Explaining a rugby journey which saw him as part of the Jersey team which won away to Bath last month, Elliott said: “I was in the academy here up until I was 18 before leaving to go to uni at Leeds Beckett for two years, then I came back and had a season in the senior academy while I was studying at Northumbria. From there I went to Yorkshire Carnegie in the Championship and had three full seasons with Jersey, which I enjoyed.

“I’ve played a lot, which has been important, and I understand men’s rugby now. The Championship is an attritional league where it’s more pressure and outcome based, and as a scrum-half having to manage that territory and momentum side of things has been big for me.

“Dictating where we play and how we play has been the biggest difference compared to when I was last at the Falcons as a 19-year-old, where you just want to run everything. It’s just that natural maturing process that you go through as a player.”

Back in his native North East after a whirlwind fortnight, Elliott said: “I still don’t think I’ve fully got my head round what’s happened, to be honest.

“To have more than three years at a club and for it all to stop with zero notice – it was just incredibly strange. That’s the only word I can really use, but everyone here has been really welcoming. It could have been a lot harder, and I know for a lot of the Jersey players it will have been.

“We started a family over in Jersey and we have a little ten-week-old daughter called Ruby. It’s unbelievable and I love being a dad, but it obviously didn’t help having the uncertainty around the Jersey situation.

“Taking the positive view, we’ve been able to move back to the North East where I’m close to family and we’ve got that support network around us. As well as having that help on hand it’s just nice for Ruby and the family to get to know each other properly, rather than being so far away.

“In rugby terms I just want to get amongst it as best I can, and keep learning.

“Jersey was great for me but I’d been there for three seasons, and it’s probably good for me to see another environment and keep pushing myself. I’m really happy that it’s back at a club I love, and that I’ve got the chance to work with the players and coaches we have here at the Falcons.”

Newcastle Falcons head coach Alex Codling welcomed Elliott’s return to Tyneside, saying: “James is a local lad who came through our academy, and sometimes in rugby the journey isn’t always a straight line.

“He’s had a really tough situation with Jersey folding, but it’s a positive thing for us to be able to give an opportunity to a talented young player who loves this club.

“I’m delighted to have him here and he will add a massive amount to the group.

“He’s been a key player for Jersey in helping them win the Championship title last season and he’s got a strong skill-set. His pass is very good, he’s a positive character and he’ll fit in really well.”

JAMES ELLIOTT BIOG

Position: Scrum-half

Born: 29/8/98

Height: 1.77m (5ft 10)

Weight: 82kg (12st 13)

Honours: England Students