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'I thought he was joking': The conversation that saved Evan Lloyd's rugby career
By Simon Thomas
Some three years ago, Evan Lloyd thought his dream of being a professional rugby player was over. Now he is about to make his first start for Wales.
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Itâs been some journey for the young man from Penarth.
Growing up, he spent two years living in China, going to school and playing rugby in Shanghai.
Then came injury, the prospect of rejection and a life-changing switch from the back row to hooker. That was followed by the international fast-tracking which saw him make his Wales debut before he had started a single regional game for Cardiff.
Now, after five Test outings off the bench, he has been handed the No.2 jersey for Friday nightâs Six Nations opener against France in Paris.
Itâs all a far cry from the position he found himself in back in 2022 when the future looked pretty bleak.
Heâd been capped as a back-rower by Wales U20s the previous year, but after his progress was halted by a dislocated shoulder during his final year with the Cardiff Academy, it looked as though his professional career was going to come to an abrupt end.
âI was going to be released. I wasnât going to get a transitional contract, which was fair enough because I hadnât played much,â he recalls.
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âBut then, a couple of months later, I was doing my rehab and Gruff Rees (Academy manager) pulled me in for a chat.
âIt was just a normal conversation and then he sort of dropped in âHow would you feel about playing hooker?â.
âI laughed, I thought he was joking. As a backrower, nobody wants to hear that!
âI had never once thought about it, but he said if I was to make the change I would be in a good bracket looking at my height, weight and stats.
âSo I spoke to everyone – my parents, friends, my agent, the boys in the Academy, coaches I have had.
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âIt was a case of you either donât do it and maybe end up playing for Penarth or someone like that or I give it a crack and the worse situation is I end up back where I am.
âSo I thought I would give it a go and itâs turned out ok.â
It certainly has.
After impressing with his ball-carrying in his new role for the Cardiff club side in the Welsh Premiership, he made his regional debut as a sub against the Bulls of South Africa in November 2023 and, within a couple of months, he was to be a shock inclusion in the Wales Six Nations squad.
Recalling that surprise selection from just over a year ago, he says: âWhen I saw the email, I think I turned white! It was such a weird moment.
âYou think about it since you are a kid and then it happens.
âI donât think I spoke the whole day. I didnât know what to think. It was a mixed bag of emotions really.â
When fellow squad hooker Ryan Elias picked up an injury, Lloyd was drafted in to make his Wales debut as a replacement at home to France last March, at which point he still hadnât started a regional game for Cardiff.
âThe whole opportunity was just crazy to me,â he says.
âI just wanted to soak everything in. I was so happy to be out there and I didnât want to waste it.
âThe whole warm-up, walking out, I was buzzing. Then came the anthem. I am getting goosebumps thinking about it!
âYou watch it on the telly when you are a kid and then you are there, on the other side, looking at everyone else. I couldnât stop looking around.
âThen, when I got the chance to go on the field, well, I donât know what to say, itâs a crazy feeling.â
Over the next few months, further caps followed off the bench against Italy, South Africa and Australia.
âIt was a whirlwind, just one thing after another happening. Each month, it was sort of something different.
âI would be in the house and think to myself âThis has really happened, that was me playing in the red jersey!ââ
âItâs been a weird, strange journey.â
Lloyd was again included in the squad for this seasonâs autumn internationals, without getting on the pitch during the three games, but heâs now in from the start for the Six Nations opener against France.
âI never really know how to go into these campaigns,â he admits.
âIf I get a game or two, thatâs a real bonus for me. I am just grateful for the opportunity to be there.
âEvery time you get named in the squad, itâs a huge honour and you get excited to go back into it. Itâs something I donât want to take for granted and want to really make the most of it.
âI just want to make an impact when I can and hopefully get as much game time as I can.
âI take it as a learning opportunity and I just want to keep improving.
âYou have just got to take it in your stride and do what you can and put your best foot forward.
âIâm grateful to get the chance. I donât know when this is going to end, so I just need to savour it and realise the position I am in. I donât want to be 40 or 50 and wishing I had enjoyed it more.â
Lloyd has been accustomed to taking things in his stride from an early age. When he was just eight, he moved with his family to China and spent two years living in Shanghai.
âMy dad works in mechanical engineering and had the opportunity to go out there,â he explains.
âIt was a good thing for us. I have been to places that I could only dream of.
âItâs a different world out there. We lived in a compound which was hundreds of houses in a walled-off area. But then you get the bus to school and thereâs just people everywhere.
âComing from Penarth to Shanghai, it was âWhatâs going on?â
âItâs crazy, but I feel like I have had the opportunity to do things that some people my age havenât through living over there. It was a really good experience.
âI went to a British international school and played rugby for them for a couple of years.
âI learned a bit of Mandarin, but Iâve forgotten all of it, Iâm afraid to say, so Iâm not able to use it for any secret lineout calls!â
Evan Lloyd is on for his first cap!
👏 Llongyfarchiadau Evan#SixNationsRugby pic.twitter.com/qHDCVssc9j
â Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) March 10, 2024
Which brings us on neatly to that key part of a hookerâs job which Lloyd has had to adapt to over the past couple of years – throwing in at the lineout.
âItâs a really tough skill,â admits the 23-year-old, who attended Stanwell School, in Penarth, and then Cardiff & Vale College.
âWhen I was in the back row, I used to think âOh, just throw it in!â But you donât realise until you do it that itâs quite a tough thing.
âWhen I was transitioning and learning it, I was up with the seniors and I would spiral throw it and it would come out end over end and I would go âOh Godâ.
âI am still pretty new to the position and itâs all come around quite quickly.
âIâve still got a long way to go, but I like to think I am getting there. The people around me help so much.
âI couldnât ask for a better person to learn from than Liam Belcher at Cardiff. He is as professional as it gets. He has been key to me. Itâs just all the little things he can help out with. He has been nothing but good to me. He is someone I really like learning from, both in terms of his professionalism and on the technical side of things.
âThen, at international level, Iâve got boys like Dewi Lake, Ryan Elias, Elliot Dee and Sam Parry.
âI try and learn from every hooker I work with. You get little points off each of them. I couldnât ask for a better handful of players to learn from. I try to take in as much as I can off everyone really.â
As for the psychology associated with the job, he says:
âYou canât let it affect you if you have one bad throw. Youâve just got to park it.
âThe more you think about it, the more it will be playing on your mind and every time you go over to the lineout, thatâs all you will be thinking. The biggest challenge is clearing your head and saying âRight, thatâs done – nextâ.
âYou get on the white line, you try and block everything out and you are thinking what are the calls.
âI would say I am more comfortable in my throwing routine now. Thereâs that and then thereâs the scrummaging. I donât think my neck has felt good since three years ago!â
Given Lloyd is still a relative rookie in the hooking position – with 23 appearances there for Cardiff – and also pretty new to international rugby, itâs a big call by Warren Gatland to start him in Paris, but the Wales coach sees a lot of potential in the 6ft 1ins, 17st 10lbs front rower.
âI just think he’s definitely a player of the future,â said the Kiwi.
“He’s a big man. We know how good he is around the field. I think he’s an outstanding rugby player. There’s a few things he needs to learn around his game in terms of that set-piece stuff.
âThe thing for Evan is he’s going to have a lot of nerves. It’s going to be a challenge for him.
âIt’s about us trying to get around him and show him that we have confidence and belief in him. Itâs about him going out knowing there’s people in Wales hoping he’s going to do well.
âWe just need to back him and hopefully people get behind him and give him that confidence and wish him well in terms of his first start for Wales.”
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