THE HERALD REPORTS

Evans eager to put on a show

KEVIN FERRIE September 19 2008
Thom Evans, a double try-scorer last week, may be a former boy band member but it is his big brother, Max, from whom Sean Lineen, the Glasgow Warriors coach, is seeking additional star quality in the backs play as they go west this weekend.

Frustrated by the pack's display last week, Lineen has made a couple of changes there - Stevie Swindall and Ope Palepoi come in - but he made it clear he hopes to see the older Evans brother, who returns to the back line with Hefin O'Hare, make a difference.

"Max is one of the few guys who have the X-factor," said Lineen, meaning the special something he hopes will separate his side from a Connacht team that is never the most stylish in the Magners League, but always among the most dogged and unified.

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Evans readily accepted the compliment and is eager to put on a performance, having been disappointed that a dead leg prevented him from playing alongside his brother whose try brace was not enough to subdue the Ospreys.

"It's certainly got nothing to do with my singing," he said with a laugh in response to Lineen's comment. "I wish I could sing like Thom . . . but it's good to get the backing of the coaches."

If anything, Max would probably be more of a contender for Strictly Come Dancing, such is his footwork, and he hopes to catch the national selectors' eyes with that.

"I've not got Thom's blinding pace, either, but I am pretty quick off the mark and I think it's my footwork that makes me better-suited to playing in the midfield," he explained. "The hope is that I can make the breaks and then pass it on to finishers like Thom, Hefin O'Hare or Lome Fa'atau."

While Warriors have more class than tonight's opponents, last Friday's defeat by the Ospreys was a painful reminder that, if the team is not prepared to mix it in the forwards, then that counts for very little.

The same will apply at Murrayfield where Edinburgh know they have to show a lot more determination that was in evidence last weekend.

While the national team management, as well as their own coaches, have been inclined to dismiss the 50-point defeat by Leinster as slightly freakish, it should hurt the players to know that Graham Steadman, the new Scotland defence coach, suggested that questions must be asked about their mentality in the second half of that game.

Any repeat of that against Scarlets will surely spell real trouble. The Welsh side have won three matches to challenge at the top of the table and boast no shortage of quality and pace in the back line.

While Edinburgh have performed well under Andy Robinson since he arrived less than a year ago, the reality in any professional sport is that three successive defeats will always lead to questions being raised.

Edinburgh have opened the season, like Connacht, with two defeats. They cannot afford to be beaten again tonight.

This article was posted on 19-Sep-2008, 08:08 by Hugh Barrow.