James is still struggling with a calf injury and looks set to miss both this weekend’s first Test in Auckland against the All Blacks and Tuesday’s clash with former Super Rugby champions the Chiefs in Hamilton.
“You always want a fully fit squad and Paul has been grafting hard to be fully fit particularly for the game on Tuesday. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as though that is going to happen and we have brought Aaron out as cover,” said Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards.
Jarvis, who is heading to ASM Clermont Auvergne next season, trained with the Welsh squad for the two weeks before they travelled to New Zealand and was with the party at Twickenham when they played England.
Capped 17 times by Wales, the 30-year-old was a replacement in the final Six Nations game against Italy in March.
