New Dragons signing Lloyd Evans is confident he can push the Welsh club up the United Rugby Championship table this season as he targets international honours with Wales.
The 28-year-old was a consistent performer for Gloucester in the English Premiership for a number of seasons before deciding to leave Kingsholm for the Dragons. Experienced outside-half Evans has been brought in to add depth to the Dragons backline and will compete with Will Reed for the number 10 shirt at Rodney Parade.
“That’s (playing for Wales) always been the dream for me but the project here at the Dragons is exciting and I’m just looking forward to getting into that and putting in some good performance on the pitch,” Evans told WalesOnline when asked if he was targeting international honours with Wales.
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“My main ambition is to play number 10. That’s the plan moving forward.
“I see myself as an attacking fly-half. I think I can spot opportunities and playing at the line, while I also think I can bring an offload game.
“That sort of thing will be beneficial. The game management side is also really important in the Premiership and I think that’s something I’ve really developed over the past few years.
“I think it’s about that balance will be good moving forward.”
The Dragons have struggled at the foot of the URC table for a number of years but the club’s new owners have ambitious plans to turn the Newport-based club into a success.
Head coach Dai Flanagan has recruited well this summer, with Evans joined by further new signings in the shapes of Australian centre Harry Wilson, No 8 Solomone Funaki, former Scarlets second-row Steve Cummins and Wales international Shane Lewis-Hughes, among others, while the club are also in talks with Liam Williams. A big focus at the Dragons this summer has centred around changing the culture into a winning one, with defence coach Filo Tiatia expected to play a pivotal role in that.
And Evans, who is the son of former Scarlets chairman Huw Evans, is confident the Dragons can change perceptions this season and become far more competitive on the field. “Speaking to Dai Flanagan I was impressed with where they want to get to, the ambition, the room for improvement and growth,” he said.
“It was just the opportunity to crack on and improve the Dragons because there’s a lot of room for growth. The playing squad is really exciting and we’ve got some really good players here.
“I’m just getting involved with that and putting the process in place to improve and get results. We want to become far more competitive and I’m confident we can do that because we’ve got some really good players in the squad.
“We’ve put a lot of focus on fitness in pre-season and that’s something the club has really changed with Ryan Chambers coming in. We want to be playing an exciting brand of rugby but we need to be clinical and take our opportunities.”
Evans has been hugely impressed with some of the young talent he has encountered in training and has been particularly taken by former Wales U20s centre Joe Westwood. “I’ve been really impressed with Joe Westwood,” he said.
“He’s a hell of an athlete. He used to play 10 so he’s got a good skill set as well. Oli Andrew has also been good. He’s good serious pace and he’s a good athlete.
“I’ve also been training a lot with Will Reed who is a really talented player. There’s a lot of young talent in the forwards as well.
“There’s also some guys who have come in straight out of school who are stepping up in training. There’s a good balance between experienced players and younger players coming in and being competitive.
“There’s a good balance to the squad and that side of that is exciting as well. We’ve got some really good young talent in the backs who can hurt teams and it’s my responsibility as an outside-half to bring the best out of them.”
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