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Tigers backrow spotted at Harlequins training ground this week


Will Evans
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A Leicester Tigers backrow has been spotted at Harlequins’ training ground, adding to speculation that he is set to join the London club next season.

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Former England U20s openside Will Evans was spotted at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford this week.

RugbyPass understand the 21-year-old is eager for more first team playing time, having clocked up just five games for the Leicester Tigers so far this season.

A move to Harlequins makes sense for Evans. With reports that Harlequins backrow Jack Clifford is in talks with Exeter Chiefs, the signing of a genuine openside like Evans would go some way to mitigating his potential departure.

The young flanker was added to Eddie Jones initial Elite Player Squad way back in 2016 and has made a total of 32 appearances for the midland’s club. Evans is currently the 20th ranked openside in the Premiership according to the RugbyPass Index.

Evans had a meteoric rise through the ranks at the end of the 2015/16 Tigers season, making his senior debut for Leicester Tigers and then going to the World Under-20s Championships with England. However this season has seen chances for him to impress few and far between.

A product of the Tigers academy, the compact backrow (6 foot, 90.5kg) gained international recognition at four age-group levels and impressed enough in senior company to earn a Premiership debut against Gloucester at Welford Road in April 2016, having just turned 19 in January of that year.

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He made three more appearances that season, including in the semi-final at Saracens.

Originally from Norwich, Evans is a former student at rugby nursery Wymondham College, where Tigers colleague George Worth was a team-mate.

According to Leicester Tigers’ website, he was then selected for the Under-20s World Championships in Manchester in 2016 and marked his debut with a try in a win over Scotland.

After 18 first-team appearances in 2016/17, he joined England Under-20s for another World Juniors in the summer of 2017 as part of a squad which reached the Final.

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Phantom 25 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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