Nicholas John Evans (born 14 August 1980) is a New Zealand former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He played at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

and fullback. He played for the Highlanders and the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

in Super 14. At 28 he joined Harlequins for the 2008–09

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

season, and remained with the club until his retirement on a deal reportedly worth £320,000 a year. He retired at the end of the 2016–17 season and is now a coach for Quins.

Biography

Evans was born in

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

in New Zealand, and attended

Westlake Boys High School Westlake Boys High School is a state secondary school for boys located in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School (opened 1958) split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and We ...

, where he played first five-eighth (fly-half) for his school's First XV. He played both rugby union and

Aussie rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

at the school. He played club rugby with the East Coast Bays Rugby Club in the North Harbour Premiers. Evans graduated to the NZ under-21 and senior Aussie Rules Football sides, competed against state teams and was offered a trial with the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

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turning it down to commit his future to rugby union. Although he has grown since, he was at the time considered short for professional Aussie Rules at 176 cm. He later decided to commit to rugby union and played for the Highlanders (rugby), Highlanders in the Super 14 and for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

. However, on 25 May 2007 Evans announced he would not be re-signing with the

Otago Rugby Football Union The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in t ...

and would either sign for a Union closer to his family on the North Shore, or become one of many New Zealand rugby players heading overseas if he did not make the All Blacks World Cup squad. He decided to move closer to his family.

Playing career

New Zealand

After impressing in both provincial and Super rugby, he made his

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

debut aged 23 against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2004. In his last game against Wales when he came on as a replacement for Carter, he broke the line with his first touch off first phase to set up

Sitiveni Sivivatu Sitiveni Waica Sivivatu (born 19 April 1982 in Suva, Fiji) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer, playing on the position of a wing. He was largely successful in the 2005 Super 12 season playing for the Chiefs. He acquired a starting ...

for an easy try underneath the posts. Evans was selected in the 30-man New Zealand Squad at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. He started at first five-eighth against Portugal in a game which New Zealand won 108–13, and in the process accumulated 33 points via 14 conversions and a try. He played in the game against Scotland, having been summoned from the bench to play at fullback and looked very handy. He was rewarded with a further start at fullback against Romania and scored 17 points through a try and six conversions. Evans was overlooked for New Zealand's 2008 Tri Nations series. After signing with English Premiership side

Harlequin FC Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Foun ...

, he has become ineligible to play for his national side due to the NZRU's policy of only selecting players within New Zealand to play for the

side.

Premiership

Since joining the Harlequins, Evans has been a chief architect of on-field success of the club. He was instrumental in the Harlequins back-to-back defeats of

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

and helped salvage a draw for his side in their Boxing Day clash with the

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. During the 2010–11 season Evans has continued his on field success at Harlequins with his most notable performance coming in the European Challenge Cup, putting a man of the match effort against

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

in the quarter finals and kicking the winning conversion in the final against Stade Francais. Evans signed a new contract with Harlequins to see him with the club until 2013. He started for Harlequins in their 2011–12 Premiership final victory over

and scored six penalties and one conversion.

International

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

Retirement

In April 2017, Evans announced his retirement from rugby after the 2016–17 Premiership season with Harlequins. His last home game for Quins was against Wasps on 28 April 2017. Shortly after his retirement from playing, he was appointed as an attack coach for Quins.

References

External links

*
Harlequins profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Nick New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand players of Australian rules football Harlequin F.C. players Highlanders (rugby union) players Blues (Super Rugby) players North Harbour rugby union players Otago rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks People educated at Westlake Boys High School 1980 births Living people New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby union players from Auckland