All Black Nick Evans has joined the cast of stellar names who will feature in Paul James’ testimonial match in Neath later this summer.
A classy fly-half playmaker who played 16 Tests, Dan Carter’s former Test deputy retired as a player in 2017 after a stint with Harlequins which saw them win their first and only English Premiership title. He played 208 games for the Londoners, scoring 2249 points, and recently became only the second person from outside Britain and Ireland — after Warren Gatland — to be inducted into the Premiership’s hall of fame.
Evans was players’ player of the year in England in 2011-12, the year Quins won the title.
He and James played together for the Barbarians when they faced the British and Irish Lions in Hong Kong in 2013.
Evans will line up for a Select XV against a Classic Lions side at The Gnoll on July 27.
A further international flavour will be provided by Paul Griffen, the New Zealander who played 42 Tests at scrum-half for Italy.
The pair will add to an impressive list of performers booked to support James on his big day.
Gavin Henson, Shane Williams, Lee Byrne, James Hook, Ryan Jones, Rowland Phillips,Taufa’ao Filise, Lyndon Bateman and Andy Powell are all lined up for Select XV duty.
Allan Bateman, Dafydd James, Delon Armitage, Chris Wyatt, Ian Gough and Jason Forster are among those set to feature in the Lions side.
Now 38, Evans displayed such quality while playing for Quins there were those who believed had he stayed in New Zealand he could have won more than 16 caps, Dan Carter or no Dan Carter. Not only could he run a game; he could also run stylishly himself and coax those around him into doing so as well.
Next month’s testimonial has been called 'Ten21' after James' international cap number as well as a bistro bar he and his wife own in Neath.
It’s a fixture that is proving attractive to supporters, with organisers opening up The Family Stand off the back of major demand, with the main stand selling out in a week.
Tickets for the match are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for children and concessions.
More tickets are now available here
