RUGBY FEATURE:Brothers Thom and Max Evans bring some much-needed colour to a bland Scottish campaign, says JOHN O'SULLIVAN
SCOTLAND’S SIX Nations Championship campaign to date has been a dour, colourless affair that even their most ardent supporter would struggle to watch . . . once. There has been precious little about which to enthuse in their defeats to Wales and France, while the footage from the victory over Italy should carry an X-rating and a warning that’s it only for hardcore Scottish rugby disciples.
There have been brickbats in defeat and victory, but what’s arguably more worrying for Scotland coach Frank Hadden is the very structured and limited style to which his team have been adhering for large tranches of recent tests and one over which he presides. Scotland are not much different in over-employing the boot, an accusation that could be levelled at most countries in the Six Nations, but there appears to be precious little else.
The pack has been going reasonably well, appreciably excellent in the scrum against Italy, but its work is being compromised by a lack of flair from the backs.
Scotland need to start taking some risks if they are to maximise the potential of talented young players like Thom and Max Evans, the 45th set of brothers to play for the country.
When Glasgow Warriors beat Toulouse at Stade Earnest Wallon in the pool stage of this season’s Heineken Cup, Max Evans (25) deservedly won the man-of-the-match accolade for a brilliant performance in the centre, underpinned by elusive running, great angles and spatial awareness. His belated cameo from the bench that included a try in the Wales match harvested creativity over what had been pretty infertile ground.
Talk to any of the Leinster players and they have plenty of compliments for Thom Evans (23), the younger of the Evans brothers, who seems to play well every time he comes across the Irish province.
Thom is a natural born finisher, blessed with tremendous pace but he also possesses a work ethic that demands he doesn’t just languish on the wing, waiting for the ball to find him.
Slow to blood them at test level, Hadden needs to find avenues maximise the brothers’ game breaking ability.
To ignore those qualities would render the Scots utterly predictable. In some respects Scottish rugby needs the Evans brothers far more than the reciprocal arrangement, judging by their rounded sporting prowess, inherited from an impressive gene pool.
Their father Brian Evans is a former European Tour professional and now runs the Pinheiros Altos golf club in Portugal, while mother, Sally is a former 100-metre sprint champion in the Natal province of South Africa.
The boys grew up in Portugal but were educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, their progress monitored by Sally’s Glasgow-born father Fred Thom who lived nearby and provided them with their Scottish qualification.
Thom boasted a plus two handicap as a 16-year-old while Max went even further after developing a back problem when joining Harlequins from school.
The latter dropped out of rugby, earned his PGA qualification, taught for two years and has since stated that when his rugby career finishes the plus three handicap wouldn’t mind a crack at trying to make a living as a golf professional.
During his time off the pitch, Max worked hard on rehabilitating his back problem and when Thom signed for Glasgow from Wasps, Max decided to give rugby another go; a prescient choice.
Thom’s progression to the professional rugby ranks also enjoyed something of a detour, along the way.
Four years ago, after deciding against pursuing golf seriously like his brother, Thom also decided to quit the band Twen2y4se7en – it was formed with a few schoolmates and he played bass guitar – to concentrate on rugby, giving up a life of shrieking girls and tours supporting the likes of Westlife, Peter Andre and McFly.
The celebrity trappings are perpetuated in another family relationship as their father, Brian is a cousin of BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans.
He’s had the boys on his Drive Time radio show on several occasions and plugs them whenever he gets the opportunity.
Just 18 months apart in age, Thom and Max Evans – who share a flat together in Edinburgh – appear very different characters as father Brian explained recently.
“Thom is very ‘focused’, to use the modern expression; very individual,” said Brian.
“He has incredible pace – that must comes from my wife Sally who was a sprint champion in South Africa – and concentrates totally on his job, which is scoring tries and doing his defensive duties.
“He was a fine young golfer – plus-2 at the age of 16 – and actually has that concentrated mentality to be a good pro, but rugby is his first love and that is the route he has taken.
“Max is very different although just as talented,” he says.
“He comes alive as a team man, he is totally aware of others and his great skill is to create and bring everybody else into the game.
“He is a natural at virtually every sport he tries – I have rarely seen anybody hitter a longer golf ball. They used to beat hell out of each other.
“Now the rivalry’s still there but they get on better than they’ve ever done, and I think rugby’s done that,” says their father.
Scottish supporters will be hoping that the Evans brothers – Max is nursing an injury – command some back-page headlines when Ireland come calling at Murrayfield on Saturday.
In any other home union team in the Six Nations these two young talents would be touted as potential Lions; the fact that they are not is indicative of the conservatism that’s smothering Scotland’s potential.
If the Scots change their game-plan in a positive way then expect the Evans boys to be certainly cast in lead roles.
