Rugby: Bring back Nick for good

Nick Evans' Harlequins contract expires next year. Photo / Getty Images

Whether it was an honest mistake or wishful thinking, New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew has apologised to Nick Evans for saying the former Blues first five had turned down an offer to come home.

Evans is happy in South-West London with the Harlequins club where he will play next year. He signed a three-year contract in 2008.

Life is good for Evans - he loves London, enjoys the club and while he keeps an eye on events at home, he's not pining for the Super 14 nor the All Blacks.

Evans, who is back in New Zealand for a few weeks, was, therefore, spluttering when he heard Tew on the radio claiming they had made the 29-year-old an offer to return and he had said, 'no thanks'.

"That was news to me," says Evans. "I had received no offers as far as I was concerned. The only contact I have had with the All Black coaches since I left was when Wayne Smith met me during their 2008 Grand Slam tour. He asked me if I would be interested in coming home at some stage. That was two years ago. It was just a chat."

Besides, Evans also made it clear he was under contract until June 2011. What troubled him was the thought of being portrayed as more interested in money and being out for himself.

"If a genuine offer had been made, I would have looked at it seriously," says Evans.

Tew, for his part, has made his apologies. His mistake was genuine but did it hint at the frustration the national body feels at the way they handled Evans back in 2008?

They have never admitted it but mistakes were made. That January, they learned Dan Carter was looking to leave. The next day, they heard Evans was thinking the same way.

It was panic stations but somehow Evans was given the impression it would make little difference how he played or what he did. While Carter was fit, he would play. When it became clear Carter was going offshore only on a six-month sabbatical, Evans signed with Quins.

The NZRU grossly underestimated the value of Evans and have since regretted it. Evans was the understudy they would kill for now. Given how desperate the All Blacks are for depth at first five, could they agree a deal for Evans to return next May when his contract expires?

Innovation, flexibility and realism could bite and open the way for the All Blacks to pick Evans for the end of season tour in the UK.

Why not? If he's coming home in May 2011, he's made the commitment. He could join the Blues during their Super 15 campaign and be available for the Tri Nations and World Cup.

Such a scenario would require the NZRU to break their own rules. But they lost Evans the first time by breaking their rules for Carter.