Falcons braced for Evans alert – Eves
Nov 12 2010 by Mark Smith, The Journal
NEWCASTLE Falcons have been put on Evans alert, ahead of Sunday’s LV= Cup trip to Harlequins.
Falcons centre Luke Eves has singled out New Zealand fly-half Nick Evans as the man to watch, with the Kiwi general having helped Quins to a rare win at Leicester Tigers last weekend.
“He’s an absolute world class player,” said Eves, referring to the 30-year-old who has averaged over 10 points a game in his 54 appearances for the club.
“He takes the ball flat to the line, comes on to it at pace and just picks defenders off at will.”
Urging the Falcons against a narrow focus, however, Eves added: “They have talent right around the park, and they’ve got a good few youngsters we need to watch out for.
“In the centres Jordan Turner-Hall is a big lad who can do a lot of damage, and George Lowe as well is someone I know from my England Under-20s days who is making a big impression.
“Rory Clegg has an outstanding passing game, and he’s developed his all-round play a lot over the last year or so as well. Whether or not he starts the match is up in the air a bit with the way Nick Evans is playing, but I’m sure he’ll have some involvement and obviously he’ll be keen to do well against his old club being a former Newcastle player.”
Bristolian Eves has been one of the Falcons’ success stories this season, with the 21-year-old making 10 starts since his summer move from the West Country.
“I had other options, but speaking to Alan Tait really sold it for me with the way he is so passionate about bringing through the younger players, and the way he wants to open the game up from last season,” said the man who has twice represented England in Under-20s World Cup final action.
“It was a long way distance-wise from Bristol, but I was always going to make the move and I’m absolutely certain that Newcastle is the right place for me to develop my career.
“I’ve been pleased with how I’ve been going, I’ve busted through the line on occasion and contributed to some tries by putting the boys away. It would be nice to get over the whitewash myself one of these days, but if I can keep feeding the other boys for scores then that’s fine with me.”
Head coach Alan Tait will name his side later today for Sunday’s game, but the Scot has revealed that second row Glen Townson will be fit to start despite picking up a bang to the knee in last weekend’s home victory over Ospreys.
“Glen has come through this week in training, and he will partner Tim Swinson in the second row,” said Tait. “With James Hudson out injured and Filipo Levi starting for Samoa against Ireland on Saturday, Glen and Tim are the only two fit second rows in the club at the moment, so it’s a Godsend that Glen’s knee injury hasn’t proven to be too bad.”
Meanwhile, The Journal can reveal that assistant coach Paul Moriarty will face no further action after being summoned to London on Monday to meet RFU disciplinary chiefs.
The Welshman had been asked to explain his half-time comments surrounding the substitution of Kieran Brookes, who was removed as a tactical replacement in the first half of the loss at Northampton before being brought back on for the injured Tim Ryan early in the second half.
Tait said: “Paul had a long drive down and a long drive back on Monday, but the RFU basically just confirmed what we already knew - that we had done nothing wrong.
“They were just concerned that Paul’s half-time interview was signalling some sort of intended breach of the regulations around front row replacements, but we’ve been happy to explain everything and draw a line under the matter.”
