John "Jack" Evans was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 forward who later 'went North', switching to the professional rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 code. Evans played for several teams, but is most notable for playing club rugby for Llanelli

Llanelli RFC

Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...

 and international rugby for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

.

Rugby career

Evans first played club rugby for his hometown club of Ammanford

Ammanford RFC

Ammanford Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the town of Ammanford, West Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets.-History:...

, before switching to first class Welsh club Llanelli. It was while representing Llanelli that Evans was first selected to play for Wales, in the second game of the 1896 Home Nations Championship

1896 Home Nations Championship

The 1896 Home Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 4 January and 14 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

. Evans came into a pack along with four other new caps, a reaction by the Welsh selectors to the terrible defeat to England in the previous game. The new players were chosen for their rough physical style of play, and were dubbed 'Rhondda

Rhondda

Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...

 forwards' after the tough coal playing men from that area. The initial decision worked, with Wales winning 6-0 against Scotland at the Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

. Evans was reselected for the third and final game of the Championship, an away game to Ireland. This time the new forward strategy was not successful with the Irish kick-and-rush tactics, and Wales lost 4-8. Despite the loss Evans was re-selected for the only game Wales played in the 1897 Home Nations Championship

1897 Home Nations Championship

The 1897 Home Nations Championship was the fifteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Four matches were played between 9 January and 13 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

. The match saw Wales beat England by a record amount, but due to the Gould affair, Wales left the International Rugby Board

International Rugby Board

The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 and could not play in any further international games.

In 1897, Evans moved to the Rhondda where he joined valley team Llwynypia

Llwynypia RFC

Llwynypia RFC was a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Llwynypia in the Rhondda. The team provided several international players during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most notably Willie Llewellyn, who was not only selected to represent Wales while playing at the club, but...

, although not a 'Rhondda forward' when first capped for Wales, by the time his international career had ended he was a Rhondda collier. When the next Wales international was played, Evans' position was taken by Hopkin Davies

Hopkin Davies

Hopkin Davies was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea and was capped for the Wales international team on four occasions.-Rugby career:...

, and Evans was not selected to play for Wales again. It is recorded that Evans eventually switched codes, to professional rugby league joining Swinton RLFC

Swinton Lions

Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...

in October 1897. Both of his sons, Jack and Bryn played rugby league during the 1920s and 1930s.