Max Evans taking everything in his stride
Before Max had to deal with the idea of his brother never returning to contact sport, he took some time out to chat to Rugby World about golfing forfeits, learning Chinese in his spare time and life outside rugby.
RUGBY WORLD: Tell us about a good prank…
MAX EVANS: At Glasgow Sam Pinder and the kit man, Dougie Mills, have a bit of a battle going on and Sam once found a pigeon in his kitbag! It wasn’t at the top but as he was taking his kit out, this pigeon suddenly came out and started flying all around the changing room. I should say that the pigeon wasn’t harmed in any way.
RW: What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen or heard on the pitch?
ME: I’m mates with Will Greenwood and [against SA at RWC 2003] he caught the ball over the try-line, then threw it to a team-mate to take the 22 drop-out, but he’d forgotten to touch it down so it was a scrum five. I couldn’t stop laughing.
RW: You’re an excellent golfer. Have you ever embarrassed any of your team-mates out on the golf course?
ME: Will’s not a team-mate but he’s come out to Portugal to play my dad’s course and he’s had to do karaoke as a forfeit when he’s lost. Rob Kearney’s also been out, as his mum and dad have a place in Portugal. It was me and one of my mates against him and my brother. They lost badly so they had to do a duet. We made them do Kylie and Jason’s Especially For You. It was very funny.
RW: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
ME: I’d want to be able to control time – freeze a moment, go forward and back.
RW: Who’s your ideal woman?
ME: Apart from my girlfriend obviously, I really like Marion Cotillard. I saw her in A Good Year and I didn’t just think she was hot, I liked her French accent too.
Mariokart, Party tricks and PGA
RW: What couldn’t you live without?
ME: Maybe my Nintendo DS. I’m addicted to MarioKart. With Scotland, about seven of us play each other and it’s been competitive. I’ll say Simon Danielli is top of the league – that will annoy Scott Gray and Nick De Luca!
RW: If a film was made of your life, who would you want to play you?
ME: Josh Hartnett – we’re similar in looks! He’d have to beef up a bit, though.
RW: Do you have a party trick?
ME: I can do backflips, handstands and so on. I’ve done stuff as try celebrations for Glasgow and the As, but I’ve not had a chance for Scotland. You need to be running to go into a cartwheel and back somersault but for the try against Wales I was on the ground. Graeme Morrison and I want to do the Homer Simpson celebration for a try – Soccer AM said they’d give anyone a tenner for that!
RW: Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with?
ME: Can I have more than one? Anthony Hopkins, Billy Connolly, Peter Kay, Brad Pitt and Johnny Knoxville. It’d be a hoot.
RW: What’s your favourite joke?
ME: Why didn’t the skeleton want to go to the Halloween party? Because he had no body to go with.
RW: If your house was on fire, what three things would you save?
ME: My brother, laptop and first cap.
RW: If I was prime minister for a day…
ME: I’d make it a day off and employ male and female models to walk around in swimwear to give everyone a boost.
RW: What would you like to achieve outside of rugby?
ME: It’s a bit soppy but it’s the truth: I really want to have kids and give them as great a life as I’ve had. I’m also learning Chinese in my free time. I’m a qualified PGA professional and they’re building so many golf courses in China now that it would potentially be a really good place to go to work after rugby.
RW: I’d like to be remembered as…
ME: Again it’s soppy but as a giving guy who put his heart into everything.
Check out his profile for Scotland
Learn more about Max’s teammates at Glasgow…