Evans signs new three-year deal

Ospreys Rugby are delighted to announce that Dan Evans has become the 18th player to commit their future to the region ahead of the 2016/17 season.

  • Full back signs a contract that runs until the end of 2018/19 season
  • Ever present in the PRO12 over the last two seasons, Evans has only missed one European Cup game also
  • Completed the second fastest half century ever for the region when he made his 50th appearance against Connacht in February

The 27-year old full-back has signed a new three-year contract that keeps him at the Liberty Stadium until the summer of 2019.

Evans has been a model of consistency since joining the Ospreys two years ago, featuring in every single PRO12 game over the last two seasons and missing just one out of 12 European fixtures.

Having made his debut against Treviso at the Liberty Stadium on the opening day of the 14/15 campaign, he raced to the second quickest half century of appearances in the region’s history, his 50th cap coming just 17 months and 21 days later, away to Connacht at the end of February this year.

Supporters Player of the Year in his first season, he has now played 56 times for the Ospreys, scoring 13 tries.

“I’m delighted” said the twice capped Welsh international.

“It’s nice to have the confidence of the coaches. It’s been fantastic to have the amount of game time I’ve had over the last two seasons and I just want to keep that going.

“We know that it was a disappointing season overall last year but we’ve shown the previous season, when we got to the play-offs, and last season when we went right to the wire in Europe, that we can compete. With the youngsters coming through to give us more strength in depth and some good new signings, we want to hit the ground running this season and really deliver in terms of performance. This isn’t somewhere where people look for excuses, we know what we’ve got to do.”

Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, welcomed the news, pointing to Evans’ desire to continue improving as a key factor in his consistency. 

“He’s been really consistent, he racked up 50 games in next to no time” said Tandy.

“That’s testament to his work ethic, his positive attitude to learning and how well he’s looked after himself.

“As well as he’s done for us over the last two years I think there’s still a lot more to come from Dan. In the end of season review it was clear that he wants to develop on and off the field, to become more of a leader, not just a reliable player, and that’s a huge positive for us.

“He performed really well for the Dragons but he was still a bit of an under the radar signing when he came here. We identified that he was someone with the right attitude and potential to grow and that’s proven to be the case. He’s been first class for us, he’s really kicked on as a player and we are delighted that we will be able to call on his services for another three years.”

The following players have all signed new contracts since December:

Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar and  Rhys Webb (All NDC)

Olly Cracknell, Lloyd Ashley, Jeff Hassler, Dafydd Howells, Ashley Beck, Gareth Thomas, Ben John, Scott Otten, Tom Habberfield, Eli Walker, Joe Bearman, Ryan Bevington, Adam Beard and Owen Watkin.

In addition, the Ospreys have also confirmed the signing of Wales second row, Bradley Davies on an NDC from Wasps for next season, along with Crusaders centre/wing, Kieron Fonotia, Scarlets and Wales prop, Rhodri Jones, and Dragons hooker, Hugh Gustafson. 

Meanwhile, local teenagers Charlie Davies, Phil Jones, Will Jones, Reuben Morgan-Williams and James Ratti have all signed development contracts with the region, along with 21-year old former Wales U20 prop Alex Jeffries (ex-Dragons) and 24-year old Aberavon winger, Jay Baker.

Wasps’ renowned Defence Coach, Brad Davis, has also been appointed ahead of the 2016/17 season.