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Subscribe to RSS FeedIan Evans eyes up Fiji
Evans: 'I am most definitely ready'
Wales lock Ian Evans will put all thoughts of health and safety to the back of his mind when he faces up to Fiji on Saturday.
The clash in Nantes will be Evans's first start for any team since December after he suffered first a dislocated shoulder and then injured his collar-bone.
During his time on the sidelines - and in between rehab sessions in the gym and swimming pool - Evans began training as a health and safety officer.
The irony of the situation has not escaped him, but this weekend is no time for risk assessments: there's a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs.
After so long out, Evans is climbing the walls waiting for kick-off and he is ready to get stuck into the powerfully-built Fijians right from the off.
"I am most definitely ready. I am more than confident, I am ready to get into the big mix of it and remember what it feels like to start a game again,'' he said.
"When you are not involved you miss the buzz and the adrenaline rush.
"There are a lot of risk assessments to be made on the rugby field - the health and safety guys would have a field day if they could get their hands on rucking!
"Fiji will be physical and confrontational in the first 20 minutes and we are more than ready for it. I am more than capable.''
Evans recognises the remarkable show of faith from the national coaching staff to not only name him in the squad but throw him into the side for Wales's biggest game in years.
Saturday's clash is a World Cup eliminator. The victors go on to meet South Africa in the quarter-finals. The losers go home.
Evans replaces Ian Gough in the second row having played his first 28 minutes of rugby this year in last week's 72-18 victory over Japan.
But he did enough to convince head coach Gareth Jenkins, who said: "Ian showed some of the huge potential he possesses last week, he is a dynamic player who could be a world-class second row of the future.''
That faith brings its own pressures but Evans is determined to deliver.
"I have to return the favour. They have given me responsibility and I have got to come up trumps,'' added Evans.
"I will probably run out on Saturday the happiest man on the field coming back from such an injury, I am pretty pleased what I have come through.''
It was a hard old slog as he spent lonely hours in the gym while his team-mates trained outside and prepared for big matches.
Evans underwent surgery in January but needed a holiday to Lanzarote with his friends to refocus the mind. It was then he decided to bust a gut to get back for the World Cup.
That is where the career training came in. Evans took up an invitation to work with litigation experts Crownford, partly because it helped him escape the frustration of being injured.
"It's difficult to understand unless you've been through the sort of situation I have. I had a bad injury and when that happens you have a lot of negativity and insecurity in your mind,'' said Evans.
"The Crownford boss Bradley Williams came up with a deal in which they are going to train me up to play a part in his business.
"It took my mind off rugby and I was able to switch on to other things.''
Wales have spent the week compiling their own risk assessment of a Fiji side famous for their dangerous back division but with a suspect set piece.
That is an area Wales will look to target and with Jonathan Thomas out, it will be down to Evans and fellow lock Alun-Wyn Jones to run the line-out.
The pair were part of the Wales Under-21 squad that won the Grand Slam in 2005 and Jones expects Evans to make a major impact against Fiji.
"He has had 28 minutes but they were a good 28 minutes. He didn't look as if he hadn't played for nine months and he has all the physical attributes,'' said Jones.
"He has had his trough now. He has come out of it and he is ready to do the job on Saturday.''
