It’s going to be physical at Scarlets says Steffan
STEFFAN Evans has warned the Scarlets’ Guinness PRO14 rivals they won’t know what’s hit them this season.
The Scarlets were blown away in the contact area in Champions Cup semi-final and Guinness PRO14 final against Leinster last season.
But the Wales wing insists the addition of Hurricanes loose forward Blade Thomson and the return to fitness of Jake Ball will give the west Walians a harder edge this time around.
“Other teams are going to know more about what the Scarlets are about when it comes to physicality this season, certainly compared to previous years,” he said.
“Wayne has done a good job in recruiting the type of players who will fit our pattern.
“Clayton Blommetjies, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Blade Thomson and Uzair Cassiem have all played for teams which play a brand of rugby similar to the Scarlets.
“There are some big players who have come over – especially Blade from the Hurricanes – and it’s going to be exciting to see them in with the Scarlets. Leinster set the bar pretty high last season and we have to get to that standard again this year if we want to compete with them.
“We need to bring aggression and be physically better than we were last season.”
The 23-year-old missed Wales’ Test series victory in Argentina this summer after suffering a knee injury against South Africa in Washington D.C.
At the time it looked as if Evans’ dazzling footwork would be absent from the first few months of the season but the Llanelli man’s injury was not as bad as initially feared.
And the 10 times capped Wales international is hoping to take his game to the next level this campaign.
“It’s all gone well and better than I thought it would,” he said.
“Looking back on it, it wasn’t pretty to see. When I came back and I went to see the doctor he told me I’d had quite a lucky escape so I was very happy with that.
“I want to get to a standard where I can play at a high level week in, week out.
“Last year was a breakthrough year for me, but there were a lot of ups and downs and I need to play at a higher level now if I want to continue playing for Wales. I need to cut out the errors in my game.”