Northern | US

'We got embarrassed a little bit, pants pulled down' - Evans plotting revenge


Wales and Scarlets prop Rob Evans.(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

Rob Evans has helped Wales beat England and met Prime Minister Theresa May in the past week – but being “embarrassed” by Scotland two years ago is a different kind of memory.

ADVERTISEMENT

Scarlets prop Evans is set to be among nine probable survivors in Wales’ starting line-up from 2017 when they return to Edinburgh next Saturday.

This time, Wales will head north with a Six Nations title and Grand Slam in their sights, knowing that victory over Scotland would tee up a final day showdown against Ireland on March 16.

Wales’ 29-13 defeat on their last Murrayfield mission was a heaviest Six Nations loss to Scotland – and Evans has not forgotten it.

Continue reading below…

Video Spacer

“They embarrassed us last time by quite a hefty scoreline, so it’s going be a massive game up there and we need to be ready for that task,” he said.

“We got embarrassed a little bit, pants pulled down. We are away, and it will be a brilliant atmosphere up there that they will feed off. We are aware of how much of a tough challenge it’s going to be.

“We are not shying away from the fact that it’s going to be a massive game.

“I think every game is presenting us with a different test, as you can see from our last three matches (against France, Italy and England).

ADVERTISEMENT

“Their (Scotland’s) set-piece has been going pretty well, I believe, and they’ve got some quality back in there. I don’t know if (fly-half) Finn Russell is fit, but they have got some exciting talent, so it’s going be a tough game.”

And Evans says there will be no hint of complacency in the Wales camp following a first Six Nations win against England since 2013.

“It’s brilliant to have a great captain in Alun Wyn Jones,” Evans added.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I think if he sees any glint of complacency or anything like that he will just snap it out straight away.

“He is a great leader, and I think that is another big thing about this group is that everyone is pretty grounded, and as he said in the lead-up to England, we realise where we are at the moment.”

Wales celebrate their win over England

Evans, meanwhile, was at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, having been invited to Parliament by Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb, who Evans’ father taught at school.

“Well, this Brexit has gone on long enough now, so they called in the special forces!” Evans joked, of his visit.

“We were invited up for dinner, and there was a St David’s ceremony. I spoke to her (Prime Minster) afterwards. We just talked about rugby.

“She knew quite a lot about it, saying that we were on a good streak with 12 wins in a row, and we spoke about the Scotland game. It was pretty relaxed, really.”

Get the RugbyPass App 📱

Follow the biggest matches with live scores, line-ups, news and analysis, all in the RugbyPass App.

Download Here
On Apple IOS, Android, and Tablet.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

N
NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

36 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close