Evans eager to grab All Blacks chance

As the peerless Dan Carter’s perennial understudy for New Zealand, Nick Evans will always be swimming against the tide but he insists he is not willing to settle for second best at the World Cup.

With Carter rested for the All Blacks’ walkover against Portugal yesterday, Otago Highlanders number 10 Evans was given his chance to impress and he took it with both hands.

Granted it was against below-par opposition but the level-headed 27-year-old was unforgiving with the boot, nailing 14 of his 16 conversion attempts, and added a try to the mix to claim a personal haul of 33 points in the 108-13 thrashing.

Carter is undroppable at fly-half and will play the big games for the All Blacks, but Evans insists he will push him all the way.

“I’m glad to get 80 minutes under my belt,” said Evans, who missed the 76-14 mauling of Italy last weekend.

“I did what I wanted to do, I thought I played up to my expectations and I’m glad to get through it.

“We are all here to make the first team. Make no bones about it, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could be the best, the number one in the world. And I’m sure all the other guys are the same.

“The guys on the bench for any match are going to be desperate, and that competition can only be good for the squad.”

Evans’ performance against the amateurs of Portugal did not impress everyone, however.

“I spoke to the old man about 15 minutes after the game, he gave me the old debrief,” he added.

“He is always the harshest critic. He ribbed me about the two missed conversions.

“Unless you play the perfect game, which I don’t think you can, he’s not going to be happy. It’s good though, keeps you on your feet, which is just what you need.”

The All Blacks are going to take some stopping in this World Cup.

South Africa, and maybe Australia, look to be the only teams capable of stopping the Kiwi juggernaut, in which there is dynamism in every department.

Thirteen different players scored tries against the beleaguered Portuguese, with Joe Rokocoko, Aaron Mauger and Conrad Smith all running in braces.

Rokocoko, whose early tries arrived via electric breaks down the left flank, is facing tough competition for the wide berths, with Doug Howlett and Sitiveni Sivivatu his rivals.

That pair put down a marker by scoring five tries between them against the Italians, and Rokocoko is glad to have got on the scoresheet in his first start of the World Cup.

“I knew I had to take my chance early, otherwise I could have missed out,” said the Fiji-born flyer.

“I enjoyed playing my first match of the tournament. I just wanted to put up my hand.”

Portugal became the sixth team in World Cup history to ship more than a century of points in a single game, but coach Tomaz Morais labelled it an “excellent day” for rugby in the country.

They have had a tough initiation in their first World Cup, playing Scotland (Portugal were beaten 56-10) and then the All Blacks, but they have stood up manfully to the test.

“They are really enjoying the tournament, and they would have loved the opportunity to have played against the All Blacks,” said Evans.

“We don’t take it for granted being an All Black, but we don’t know what it feels like to play against us.

“They are an up-and-coming team and in their next two games, they should push a few teams to the limit.

“It’s good for the development of their country and the sport. They are going to win a lot of friends here and promote the sport back home.

“Some are skilful guys. If they keep going, there’s no reason why they can’t make the next World Cup.”

And to those who claim maulings of the kind New Zealand handed the Portuguese are bad for rugby, try telling Rui Cordeiro that.

The replacement prop barged over for Portugal’s only try of the game at the Stade Gerland, and it received the biggest cheer of the day.

He told PA Sport: “Simply playing in the World Cup is the best moment of my career and that try just adds to it.”

Morais added: “Teams have their own goals. In the Olympics, some try for personal bests, other try for the gold and for world records.

“We came here wanting to fight, so other teams like us can have this opportunity in the future.

“Everyone knows what rugby is in Portugal now.”