Nick Evans could pose a rare opportunity for English rugby
Wayne Smith has made it clear he will never coach against the All Blacks when he stands down from his role at the end of this season having cemented his place as one of the game’s all-time great thinkers.
What is not generally known is that Smith was supposed to have helped revive English rugby in the wake of their disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign. The Rugby Football Union’s search for a replacement for Martin Johnson came down to a straight choice between Stuart Lancaster and Nick Mallett. What appeared to sway it in Mallett’s favour to those outside the Union, was the fact he would come as a double act with Smith. The pair had enjoyed working together while in charge of the Barbarians and Mallett told me that Smith was on board and ready to take up the challenge of coaching England.
As the rugby history books show, the RFU opted for Lancaster and while Ian Ritchie, who is about to quit as RFU chief executive, will never admit it was a mistake, the fact they brought in Eddie Jones after the 2015 Cup debacle, proves the biggest and wealthiest Union in the World needed outside help. By waiting four years, they missed out on Smith who will leave a massive gap in the All Black coaching set up, but one man who could be a long term option is former All Blacks No10 Nick Evans who has just retired from playing with English Premiership outfit Harlequins.
Evans helped win the Premiership title in 2012 having moved to London in 2008 and according to Danny Care, the England scrum half and Quins captain, Evans has been the best overseas signing in the history of the competition. He finished as Harlequins all-time record points scorer with 2,249 points from 208 senior appearances.
Evans, 36, will become Quins attack coach next season and given his outstanding rugby brain and ability to motivate and an inspire, he could be fast tracked to test rugby. Evans, who won 16 caps, has set his sights on putting himself forward for the AB’s and his first foray into coaching has seen him lead local side Wimbledon RFC to promotion. He said: "I would love to coach in Super rugby and hopefully get a chance with the All Blacks but I need to get a coaching reputation and that requires a lot of hard work. I really enjoy coaching and having been working with Wimbledon RFC who have gained promotion this season
“I know this is the right time to finish playing and I know there will be times when I start thinking “ I could still be out there”, but I am ready to move into the next phase and I really enjoy coaching.”
So, finally, English rugby could actually develop an All Blacks coach and send them to complete their training in New Zealand, rather than the other way around.
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Italians defended well. Luckily the scrums went well for the ABs.
Go to commentsYou were 'valuing' the players by you saying "they are not greats" though, I was pointing out another reason why they are greats, inside the team I mean (which is more important to selections on the pitch stuff).
Someone like TJ would be bitterly disappointed he didn't play on this end of year tour. He is still good enough to come on in that France game and ensure the team get the victory (with regards to how well Ratima had been playing). At the very least this is a 'sorry you didn't get that chance' offering, he's not here to get token farewell games, he will be playing to try and prove that he should have been on the pitch last week.
The other decision to play your best over the future is really personal though so can agree with your reasoning. Just sharing a slightly different perspective. I'll have to check the ratings and see how they went.
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