Ospreys man Evans moves from the wing to 15 for Friday evening’s clash against Scotland at Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay (7pm), as Wales look to bounce back from a heavy defeat to England last time out.
Head coach Byron Hayward makes four changes to his side following the 67-7 reversal in Newcastle, flanker Olly Cracknell and hooker Scott Otten coming into the pack while Joshua Adams starts on the left wing and Luc Jones begins at scrum half. It means Evans moves to full back and although he has never played international rugby there, the Wales Under 20 and Sevens back says he has the ideal role model to look up to.
“Full back is my favourite position, even though I haven’t played there in international rugby so far,” said Evans.
“Leigh is certainly a model I want to follow, he never stops training or working and I want to play at full back 100 per cent. I’m very happy there on the field.
“Full back is a different position, especially in terms of defence but I’m looking forward to it. You have to be alert all the time and be aware of your kicking game but I like going up for the high ball and hopefully I can show what I can do on Friday night.”
Evans has been a key man for Wales Under 20 in the last two years and returned to the side last weekend after time on the IRB circuit with Wales Sevens. The 19-year-old says Wales are desperate to prove a point tomorrow evening.
He said: “It’s a huge chance for us to get some momentum back. Scotland are going to fancy their chances and we need to be on our game from the start. The contact area is going to be vital and we certainly need to improve there.”
Head coach Hayward, who has resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes, said: “We’ve reviewed what happened against England but we want to move forward from that.
“We’ve got a game now to prove we are a decent side before the Junior World Championship. We were bewildered after the game – England are a good side and are one of the best in the world. But none of us could have foreseen what happened, if we played them again 10 times, I don’t think that would happen.
“The players have been honest since then and we’ve told some home truths. Some of the changes are down to performance, there’s no doubt about that, but Scott Otten was always going to play this game. He’s played well for Swansea this season and deserves his start. Olly Cracknell is another who’s come in, he’s going to bring some physicality to the pack.”
Skipper Steff Hughes, who continues his centre partnership with Jack Dixon, added: “The England game was very disappointing but just one of those things – as players, we have to take it on the chin.
“We’ve trained hard and we want to get some respect back this weekend. It was tough to take and England taught us some harsh lessons in how to play international rugby. Hopefully we can learn from that.”
Meanwhile, the WRU has organised a bucket collection at tomorrow evening’s match in aid of the charity Ocumel UK and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, the organisations that Wales Under 20 head coach Hayward has been raising money for since being diagnosed with eye cancer last year.
Hayward has so far raised over £8,000 for the cause but his aim is predominantly to raise awareness of the condition which can be deadly if it goes undetected, hence the need for regular eye checks.
He said: “In my case, it was through a routine eye test that the tumour was detected so hopefully it has been caught soon enough for effective treatment. In cases where the tumour in the eye isn’t detected through an eye test, and symptoms start to occur, unfortunately that often means the cancer has already spread to the liver.
“Ocumel is campaigning for there to be automatic liver and body scans for those diagnosed with ocular melanoma but most importantly, it’s vital that everyone has routine eye tests, even if there is no concern regarding sight.”
Wales team v Scotland (Friday 14 March, 7pm, Eirias, Colwyn Bay):
Ashley Evans (Ospreys); Tyler Morgan (Dragons), Steffan Hughes (capt, Scarlets), Jack Dixon (Dragons), Joshua Adams (Scarlets); Angus O’Brien (Dragons), Luc Jones (Dragons); Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Scott Otten (Ospreys), Nicky Thomas (Ospreys), Ben Roach (Blues), Joe Davies (Dragons), Olly Cracknell (RGC), James Benjamin (Dragons), Will Boyde (Carmarthen)
Replacements: Elliot Dee (Dragons), Leon Crump (Blues), Benjamin Leung (Scarlets), Scott Andrews (Dragons), Ollie Griffiths (Dragons), Tom Williams (Blues), Luke Price (Ospreys), Harri Evans (RGC)
Scotland Under 20:
Damien Hoyland (Melrose); Jamie Farndale (Edinburgh Accies/Edinburgh Rugby), Blair Hutchison (Melrose/ Loughborough Univiversity) Ruairidh Young (Edinburgh Accies), Sam Pecqueur (Edinburgh Accies); Gavin Lowe (Glasgow Hawks/Glasgow Warriors), Ben Vellacott (Gloucester/Hartpury), James Malcolm (Ayr), Sam James (London Wasps), D’arcy Rae (Ayr), Andrew Cramond (Aberdeen Grammar), Lewis Carmichael (Melrose), Tommy Spinks (capt, London Scottish), Gabriel Carroll (Loughborough University), Magnus Bradbury (Boroughmuir/Edinburgh Rugby)
Replacements: Isaac Miller (Loughborough University), Cameron Fenton (Strathallan/Howe of Fife), Phil Cringle (Edinburgh Accies/Edinburgh Rugby), Glen Young (Newcastle Falcons), Neil Irvine-Hess (Watsonians/Edinburgh Rugby), Sean Yacoubian (Glasgow Hawks), George Horne (Currie), Angus Rennie (Aberdeen Grammar)
Tickets are available for Friday night’s match against Scotland (7pm). They are on sale now at Colwyn Leisure Centre and Venue Cymru tel 01492 872000/ The Promenade, Llandudno) from £5 Under 16s and from £10 for adults.
