Wales international in 'world class' moment with Marcus Smith as Gatland told he has to pick him
Jarrod Evans left rugby fans in awe on Friday night after he produced a stunning, try-making pass for Marcus Smith in Harlequins' win over Newcastle.
The Welsh fly-half, who has eight caps for his country, has enjoyed a strong season for The Stoop outfit and has caught the eye of fans and pundits alike with attention-grabbing performances.
And Friday night's was no different, with the rugby fraternity giving rave reviews for the 28-year-old after one stunning moment which led to the England international running in under the posts.
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With the scores locked at 7-7 just before half-time, scrum-half Will Porter whipped a pass out to Luke Northmore at first receiver, who then shipped it out the back to Evans.
The Falcons' blitz defence was quickly on top of Evans, who looked like he had nowhere to go and with few options. But he showed incredible vision to loop a perfectly-weighted pass over as many as four Newcastle defenders. Smith didn't even have to break his stride, catching the ball 20 metres out, with the precision of the pass allowing him to run in relatively unopposed under the sticks.
"What a ball that is!" the commentator exclaimed. "There must have been four defenders around Jarrod Evans, to pick out that pass, and land it on a sixpence, an absolute peach!"
Former England international Ben Kay, also on commentary, added: "It's world class. Both from the passer and the read from Marcus Smith.
"The delay, the stand, he allows the defensive line to come all the way forward and then he throws it over the top of all four of them. That is unbelievably good."
Watch the try below
Quins would go on to win 38-14.
Unsurprisingly, though, that stellar moment left rugby fans on social media in awe, with Wales head coach Warren Gatland told he has to pick the the fly-half for the upcoming Six Nations.
"No other outside half in the UK can make that pass," said former Wales fly-half Lee Jarvis. "He needs to be in the Welsh squad."
A.M Gough wrote: "We are shooting ourselves in the foot if we don’t (pick him)."
Scott Richards said: "Jarrod Evans surely has to be the starting 10 for Wales for the foreseeable."
Cody Baker added: "The bloke is just ridiculous."
Jack Morgan said: "Jarrod Evans that pass is a thing of beauty."
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It's been a problem position for Gatland, who has tried the likes of Sam Costelow, Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Anscombe and Ben Thomas in the No.10 shirt to varying degrees of success.
There was some confusion over whether Evans was eligible to play for Wales, but back in March, WalesOnline confirmed that he is not captured by the 25-cap rule - with the Professional Rugby Board concluding he was eligible after he did not "receive a reasonable offer to play for a side in Wales".
Even then, with an official statement, Evans himself wasn't totally sure.
"I think I'm eligible," he explained back in June. "There hasn't been direct contact to me, but my agent has done a little bit of work and I'm under the illusion that I'm eligible. I'm the wrong person to ask why I'm not there (part of squad). I think that's one for Warren and his coaches. As far as I'm aware I'm eligible to play for Wales.
"I came up to Quins because I wanted a change. I wanted to go outside of my comfort zone, work with different coaches, work with world class players and enjoy my rugby, without the external pressure of everything that was happening in Wales when I was there."
With Gatland poised to name his squad in a couple of weeks' time, it remains to be seen whether the former Cardiff pivot, whose last cap came in 2021, finally gets the nod again.
