In the shadow of Dan
“There was a point in my life when it came down to Aussie Rules or rugby.
“I did the old positive/negative chart. My heart was probably a bit more in the rugby, but I did give it a really strong think. There was a lot of competition for places in the rugby, a lot of good first fives around, I wondered if it would be better to go to Aussie Rules. Then I made the Super 12, then Tony Browne left and that kind of opened things up for me.”
How big is Aussie Rules in New Zealand? Big enough to pose a threat to rugby? “Not really that big at all. It got pretty big because there was a group of us young guys who came through from school, (he played U-21 and senior for New Zealand). Once we stopped it kind of stopped, which is a shame, but it’s starting to pick up again now.” A shame, Nick? Does that not kind of go against the grain in New Zealand? “Ah, no. I played a bit of tennis also, and cricket, but I didn’t take to sitting out on the field for five hours a day. I felt the Aussie Rules would help my kicking, which it has.
“Big Mick Byrne, our kicking coach, he used to play for Hawthorn, so we follow Aussie Rules quite a bit.” Mick Byrne, in fact, had a 15-year Rules career and was kicking coach to the Australian team that won the rugby World Cup in 1999. He now designated as specialist skills coach with the All-Blacks (along with head coach Graham Henry and his two assistants, they also have a manager, a selector, a muscle therapist, a physiotherapist, two strength and conditioning coaches, a specialist scrum coach, a mental skills coach, a technical assistant, a baggage man, and a full-time media manager — a team within a team). So, rugby, Aussie Rules, cricket, tennis — anything else on your sporting CV Nick? Sailing, perhaps, another major New Zealand passion? “Yeah,” he laughs. “My dad’s going to love this! Me and my brother were brought up on boats; as soon as school was finished we’d go away on my old man’s yacht, wouldn’t come back until school started again. Just stay out there, go around the Bay of Islands, places like that. It was a beautiful time. I never did it competitively, just cruising round on the old man’s yacht, harbour races, nothing serious.”
So far, we’ve all managed to avoid the glaring question you should ask Nick Evans, but eventually a French journalist had enough of Aussie Rules and sailing. “Nick,” he ventured, “What’s it like being in the shadow of Dan Carter?” “Very annoying!” he laughs, but you can tell, it’s not fun. “He’s not a bad player, is he? It was very hard at the start, but this year I’ve concentrated on the mental aspect of being in that situation.What it comes down to is that I want to be the number one, I want to be starting, but my philosophy is that if I’m not, then if I’m playing well I’m putting pressure on him to keep him playing well, which is going to be better for the All-Blacks.”
But, bearing in mind that at 25, he’s actually two years younger than you, can you see yourself displacing him? “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could do that. I wouldn’t be in the All-Blacks.
Twelve years ago, in the 1995 World Cup, Simon Culhane was in a situation very similar to where Nick is now. Simon was in the shadow of Andrew Mehrtens, but, just as Nick has been picked to start against Portugal today, Simon got a rare start in that World Cup, against Japan. Result? 145-17 win for New Zealand, a record haul of 45 points for Simon. Simon’s reward? Dropped for the next game.
For Nick Evans, and regardless of his admirable attitude and ambition, the signs are ominous. Then again, as a qualified physiotherapist, he has something decent to fall back on!
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