Ian Evans: Scott Johnson will not faze Wales with his 'boring' mind games
IAN Evans insists Wales will not be fazed by his old boss Scott Johnson's "boring" mind games ahead of the Six Nations date at Murrayfield tomorrow week.
Former Ospreys' director of coaching Johnson, now coaching Scotland, did his best to upset England at the start of the championship when he played down the seriousness of their injury list, saying: "That leaves you with just another 40,000 players to pick from. It's a sad story."
-
Ian Evans (left) insists Wales will not be fazed by the mind games of Scotland coach Scott Johnson (far left) ahead of their meeting at Murrayfield next weekend
Wales expect the odd grenade to be tossed their way, but Evans is adamant the Australian's words will have no effect.
"He can ramble as much as he wants, but it just becomes pretty boring in the end," said Evans.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
"Scott is quite a character who tries to play mind games and put himself out in the press.
"His worst fear would be that he has coached most of the boys within the squad so he more or less knows their mindset.
"Rugby's a pretty easy game, isn't it? You don't need to add fuel to the fire."
Evans continued: "There's no doubt the mind games will be coming next week, but, like I said, it's all boring. For me, anyway."
Johnson is familiar with most of the Wales players, having previously coached the national side and had close on 30 months at the Ospreys.
He has recovered from a heavy defeat by England to oversee victories over Italy and Ireland which have opened the way for an improbable Scottish challenge for the Six Nations title.
"I'm not surprised with his success with Scotland," said Evans.
"He has been around international rugby, with Australia, Wales and now Scotland.
"He is a very experienced coach who knows what he is doing. You have to respect that."
Meantime, Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde has pledged the Wales selectors will not let emotion cloud their judgement when they choose between Andrew Coombs and Alun Wyn Jones for the game at Murrayfield.
"You have to do justice to the team," said McBryde.
"I don't think you allow your personal feelings to have any sort of influence on your decisions, and we will base our decisions on that — what's the best team for next week — and take out all the emotions.
"Everything will be taken into consideration. We will look at Scotland, their strengths and perceived weaknesses and we will decide what we need in order to take advantage of those."
Meanwhile, Shane Williams has confirmed he will return to Japan to play a second season with Mitsubishi Dynaboars.
Comments