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Ieuan Evans

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Ieuan Evans
MBE
Ieuan Evans
Birth nameIeuan Cennydd Evans
Date of birth (1964-03-21) 21 March 1964 (age 60)
Place of birthPontarddulais, Wales
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight13 st 5 lb (187 lb; 85 kg)
SchoolQueen Elizabeth Grammar
UniversitySalford University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Carmarthen Quins RFC
Llanelli RFC
Bath
Barbarian F.C.		 ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1987–1998
1989–1997		 Wales
British and Irish Lions		 72
7		 (157)
(4)

Ieuan Cennydd Evans MBE (born 21 March 1964) is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for Wales and the British and Irish Lions. He is the fourth highest try scorer for Wales behind Shane Williams, George North and Gareth Thomas and joint 24th in the world on the all-time test try scoring list. Evans held the record for the most Wales caps as captain with 28, a record overtaken by Ryan Jones in 2012.[1]

Career

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Club level

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Evans was born in Pontarddulais, Wales, and started playing rugby at the age of 10 as a pupil at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Carmarthen before captaining the team at the newly renamed Queen Elizabeth Maridunum School. When he was 17, Evans started playing for Carmarthen Quins RFC youth side before joining Llanelli two years later, initially as a student at Salford University. He went on to win five of seven cup finals for the club. In 1997 he left Llanelli for Bath where he was part of the team which won the Heineken Cup in 1998.[2]

At the twilight of his career, Evans played twice for the Hong Kong Football Club in 2015 and 2016, in their annual Bali Memorial game in his preferred position of fly-half, against the Pot Bellied Pigs. In the 2016 game, Evans scored a breakaway try under the posts, which he later said was the finest of his career.

International level

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While at Llanelli, Evans gained a call-up to the Welsh National Side and made his first international appearance as a right-wing for Wales against France in Paris in 1987. He went on to win 72 caps for Wales, 28 of which as a captain, and scored 33 tries – at that time a record for Wales – and was dubbed "Merlin" by TV commentator Bill McLaren.[3] In March 1994, he captained Wales when the team won the Five Nations Championship.[citation needed]

Evans went on three tours with the British and Irish Lions, to Australia in 1989, New Zealand in 1993 and South Africa in 1997.[citation needed] Among his most memorable moments were scoring the decisive series-winning try in the 3rd Lions Test against Australia in 1989 and his four tries during the 1993 tour to New Zealand, which made him the Lions' top try scorer. He made his final international appearance against Italy in 1998.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Evans was awarded the MBE for services to rugby in 1996, and announced his retirement from the game in 1998 to run his own PR marketing company.[4]

In 2007 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was introduced to the IRB Hall of Fame.[5]

Ieuan Evans has three children; Lili (born 1997), Cai (born 1999) and Tirion (born 2001). Cai Evans is a Wales international rugby union player who pays as a fly-half.[6]

After retiring from professional rugby, Evans has been a regular broadcaster, presenter and rugby pundit. He has worked for the BBC,[7] ITV and currently for Sky Sports for over a decade. He has held a non-executive and ambassadorial positions for a number of companies and has been a board member of the Welsh Tourist Board, VisitBritain, 2010 Ryder Cup and Nominet Wales Advisory Group.

In September 2020 Evans was elected for a three-year term on the Welsh Rugby Union's National Council.[8] He was appointed chairman in November 2022 and resigned from the board in July 2023.[9]

Evans is involved in a number of charities. Since 2008 he has raised funds and organised sporting events for Help for Heroes.[10][11] He has been actively involved in supporting the Velindre Cancer Centre. In 2010, he took part in the 'Captains Climb' which saw 15 past captains of the Welsh Rugby team climb Mount Kilimanjaro, raising thousands of pounds toward the work of the charity.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Ryan Jones breaks captaincy record". rugbynews.co.nz. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  2. ^ "The Third Heineken Cup Final". epcrugby.com. 31 January 1998. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Ieuan Evans on Wales v England in the Six Nations and taking The Land Rover Challenge". The Daily Telegraph. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  4. ^ Henry, Graham (12 April 2012). "Ieuan Evans devastated after sudden death of his sister Non". walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Newsroom – Welsh Rugby Union – Official Website : Three Welsh legends join IRB Hall of Fame". wru.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  6. ^ Cai Evans background
  7. ^ "Rugby Union – Ieuan Evans' column". 17 March 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Gareth Davies to end chairman role after losing WRU Council seat to Ieuan Evans". BBC Sport. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  9. ^ Evans WRU board
  10. ^ Northcroft, Jonathan (31 August 2008). "Scott Gibbs and Ieuan Evans benefit Help for Heroes". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  11. ^ lmudaly (10 June 2011). "Help for Heroes 2 – North v South match". rugbyworld.com. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Brains – Captains Climb Ale". Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
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