A year ago, Lewis Evans hung up his boots and started planning for life after rugby.
After 15 seasons and over 200 appearances for the Dragons, Evans retired from the game and announced he was taking the plunge and moving to Hong Kong, to take over as director of rugby at USRC Tigers. That role was initially meant to be coupled with a job in the national age grade set up but things moved quickly.
He was drafted in as a forwards coach to Simon Amor with the senior men's side and then, when the former England Sevens boss left to take a job in Japan, Evans was thrust into the hot seat.
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Now, all of a sudden, he is one game away from taking Hong Kong to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. A dramatic 23-21 win over South Korea in Seoul last week has got them into a play-off against Tonga this weekend in Australia, with the winner joining South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Romania in Pool B.
Evans knows that Tonga will be formidable opposition in Queensland but the job has been made slightly easier, with the man himself insisting the absence of some key Tongan players is a bonus.
Vastly-experienced Test stars Israel Folau, Malakai Fekitoa, Charles Piutau, and former Australia No 8 Lopeti Timani are all absent.
But there are still some imposing figures in the Tonga team, most notably Sam Lousi, who was extremely impressive for the Scarlets last season.
Hong Kong have never qualified for the World Cup, whereas Tonga have missed out on just one occasion since the tournament's inception, underlining the size of the task facing Evans and his team.
That being said, Tonga go into the match in dismal form, having lost their last three matches, including a 36-0 drubbing at the hands of Fiji. A game in which Folau, Fekitoa and Piutau all played.
Looking ahead to the game, Evans told the South China Morning Post: “We know how good Tonga can be and they’ve got unbelievable personnel available to them. They have obviously lost their last three games, but they’ve also had three unbelievable games to prepare for us.
“We know the threat that’s coming there, we know the physicality, we know the speed of ball they play. We’ve all seen footage now, and we just have to be on our game to be competitive with them.”
The game kicks off at 7:30am (UK time) on Saturday, July 23.
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