Luke Evans may have been born in Dorset and spent the lion’s share of his formative years Down Under, but the promising young scrum half has never lost sight of his dream – to pull on the red jersey of Wales. The 19-year-old scrum-half is living his dream as part of Wales U20’s U20Â Six Nations squad having made the switch from the Queensland Reds Academy to the WRU Blues Academy last summer.
“I’ve always wanted to play for Wales,” says Evans. “Although my mum’s English, it’s your Dad you tend to sit down and watch rugby with so maybe that’s why I’ve got such a strong affinity to the country. I used to watch all the Five and Six Nations action and grew up with Rob Howley and Neil Jenkins as my rugby heroes.”
Evans Jnr progressed through the age grade ranks Down Under but when the young scrum-half’s childhood hero Rob Howley visited him in Brisbane last summer, the youngster didn’t take much persuading to get on a plane and join the Welsh Rugby Union’s Blues Academy. Luke said: “I’ve always wanted to play rugby in Wales and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Blues Academy.
“I’ve settled in ok but I see this as a bit of a transition season for me. However, gaining a place in the Wales U20 Six Nations squad has given me a real focus and my main aim for the season is to work hard to improve my game in a bid to make the Wales squad for the Junior World Championship in June. I’m at the Blues for three years and hopefully after a break and a good pre-season, I can stake a claim for a few games in the Magners League next season.”
Luke has had a bit of help settling in by the fact that a long lost second cousin Leigh Halfpenny is with him all the way: “I hadn’t met Leigh since we were toddlers so the fact that he is also a Blues Academy member and playing for Cardiff and Wales U20 alongside me is a real coincidence but a nice bonus.”
Luke’s Dad Roland was born in Carmarthen and spent his childhood in Penygroes. His uncle and aunty, Dennis and Ceinwen Swythenbank were close friends and neighbours of Carwyn James in Cefneithin and Roland became a regular Stradey-goer whilst still in nappies. Luke’s parents Roland and Tracy were in Wales two weeks ago to see their son make his first start for Wales in the 27-10 victory over Scotland – and it was worth every inch of the 20,000 mile round trip.
“We were in Wales for nine days and saw Luke come on against England and then start against Scotland which was fantastic,” said Carmarthen-born Roland. “Playing for Wales is everything Luke has ever wanted – he was with Australian Schools a couple of years ago but his heart was always set on playing for Wales.
“Neil Jenkins and Rob Howley were Luke’s rugby heroes as a child so when Rob Howley, while on a coaching trip to Australia last summer, sat down and spoke to Luke about coming to Wales, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. We are really grateful to the Welsh Rugby Union and to the Blues for everything they have done so far.
“We had flights on hold for the Six Nations and so when we heard that Luke had made the squad we put everything in place to come over. We are back in Brisbane now and we have watched the BBC coverage of the Scotland match over and over. Luke’s old school, The Southport School have even organised a special showing of the match at a dinner in a few weeks’ time as they are very proud to have internationals from their ranks.”
