According to WalesOnline, Jarrod Evans, a skilled playmaker, is poised to depart from Cardiff and join the renowned English team Harlequins.
The situation has led to about 90 out-of-contract Welsh players in the country’s Six Nations squad being unable to receive new contracts, resulting in threats of a strike before last weekend’s defeat to England
His move raises concerns about his future with the Welsh national team.
Evans’ current contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Harlequins anticipate that the 26-year-old will formally join their team on Thursday.
He will be Quins third new signing for next season, with Joe Launchbury and Will Porter already signing with the club.
Despite his impressive range of abilities as an outside-half, Cardiff was unable to offer Evans a competitive contract.
As a result, he has decided to cross the border and compete with England’s renowned player Marcus Smith for the coveted number 10 jersey at Harlequins.
Evans came through the mini and junior ranks of Pontyclun and Pontypridd before his precocious talents saw him called into the Cardiff academy.
The talented playmaker has been capped by Wales at Under-18 level and made his senior debut for Pontypridd when aged just 17 in 2013.
Evans was part of the Wales Under-20 squad that took part in the Junior World Championships in the summer of 2015 in Italy.
The outside half had a breakthrough season in 2017/18, establishing himself as an important player within the squad and putting in outstanding performances in victories over the likes of Lyon, Toulouse and Dragons.
At the end of the campaign, where Evans was a key figure as Cardiff lifted the Challenge Cup in Bilbao, the outside half was named the region’s Discovery of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.
Evans’ fine form also resulted in his first cap for Wales, as he appeared as a replacement in the autumn series victory over Scotland at the Principality Stadium.
HARLEQUINS CONFIRM FOUR HUGE DEPARTURES
#1. Tommy Allan to Perpignan
After joining the South West London club at the start of the 2021/22 campaign, Allan will return to Perpignan for a second stint at the club.
The club said in a statement: “Harlequins wish Allan the best in the next step in his rugby career and looks forward to finishing the current campaign with the Italian international in the Famous Quarters.”