How much do Scotland miss Thom Evans?

Scotlands lack of cutting edge in the backs is well documented and one man who could almost always break the line was Thom. I think Scotland have really missed him since he had to retire and will really struggle to find someone as good. Interesting article in the Scotsman...

http://sport.scotsman.com/rugby/Brother-Thom-is-missing-link.6828235.jp

Personally I think Thom was the better brother but having both of them in the side was a real boost.

How many tries did he score in a Scotland shirt?

Not as much as we miss Toony, Alan Tait and John Leslie.

Who else in the Scottish squad could get Kelly Brooks pregnant?

Legend or what?

1 try in 10 games apparently. Compare that to the rest of the team...

1 try, so not really missed then...

Now do not shoot me down in flames, buuuuuuuut

I was never hugely mega impressed with Thom, thought that he did not make the most of his speed and was a little light weight at times. Think he has lots of potential and could have been great, but injury forced his retirement.

I sometimes think we look back fondly at what might have been and mix it up with reality.

A good player, could have been great


(Ok ready to be shot down)

yes because the only thing a player can be measured on is the amount of tries he scores. Also like I said compare that to the rest of the Scottish team and that is not a bad ratio.

mckay1402 wrote:yes because the only thing a player can be measured on is the amount of tries he scores. Also like I said compare that to the rest of the Scottish team and that is not a bad ratio.

It's actually a worse ratio than all the Scotland outside backs, but I'd put that down to the fact that the team was really only just finding its feet under AR when he broke through and we were hardly using our wingers well.

Personally I don't see him as the missing link in our side, his brother is equally as able on the wing, and with Ansbro also coming into the side and NDL finding form, we have a couple of pretty nimble backs now to choose from. Our biggest problem is still the 10/12 axis, where we only have one dimensional options to choose from.

It's a real shame we lost him, because he would have suited the way we're playing the game now, especially with Jackson at 10. His ratio would have certainly ended up being better than 1 in 10.

The only time I,saw him play was against England in the match he was
injured .
They played a running game for the first time ,when expected to be a kicking game.
They ran England ragged until he went off,a great loss to them.

Not sure which match that was. He suffered his main injury against Wales.

I'd say his worst moment in a Scotland jersey was against England, getting run down on the angle by Moyne. Hardly embarrasing, but for a sprinter I'm sure he's annoyed he didn't step on the gas that fraction of a second sooner.

No real shame in getting ran down by Ugo Monye, he's also a ex sprinter.

They both have about the same 100m time, was not that he did not hange his angle or made it more difficult

Thom was the Magners league top try scorer in 09, beating the likes of Shane Williams and Tommy Bowe etc, before he got injured at the beginning of 2010.

its not too often a Scottish winger can claim that prize....

Guess we may have to wait for Visser to qualify before it happens again.

.......or Lee Jones. Definitely one to watch this season.

The jury will be perpetually out on Thom I would think.

True, he didn't average a high number of tries per game but he always, always made ground and his running off the ball carved huge holes as he genuinely panicked defenders.

He always reminded me of Strettle - a guy who seemed to be incredibly quick but who was always the provider and never seemed to get across the whitewash himself. Sadly, I also think Thom would have matured as Strettle recently has but we never got the chance to see it.

Personally, I prefer Max as centre and am looking forward to the day when we get Visser and Jones on the wing, with Rory as full back. Lee Jones is an absolute blaster - he just needs some confidence and time to mature.

Plenty of other posts banging on about the great Irish backs coming throught the junior ranks and whilst I'm not a fan of talking up young players as it just puts pressure on them - I think, if anything, Jones is being undersold.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

mckay1402 wrote:yes because the only thing a player can be measured on is the amount of tries he scores. Also like I said compare that to the rest of the Scottish team and that is not a bad ratio.

It's actually a worse ratio than all the Scotland outside backs, but I'd put that down to the fact that the team was really only just finding its feet under AR when he broke through and we were hardly using our wingers well.

Personally I don't see him as the missing link in our side, his brother is equally as able on the wing, and with Ansbro also coming into the side and NDL finding form, we have a couple of pretty nimble backs now to choose from. Our biggest problem is still the 10/12 axis, where we only have one dimensional options to choose from.

It's a real shame we lost him, because he would have suited the way we're playing the game now, especially with Jackson at 10. His ratio would have certainly ended up being better than 1 in 10.

+1

No point in looking back at what might have been - in S Lamont and M Evans I think we have two players capable of scoring plenty of tries if they are given ball in the right spaces

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:
No point in looking back at what might have been - in S Lamont and M Evans I think we have two players capable of scoring plenty of tries if they are given ball in the right spaces

No point in England looking back and thinking what might have been if they hadnt been poached either. After all they have two talented young English 13's in errrr and ermm errr hmmmm