Former Wales star Steff Evans is embarking on a new career
12:32, 01 Sep 2025Updated 21:38, 01 Sep 2025
Steff Evans enjoying family time with children Sia and Talis
The life of a professional rugby player is anything but the glitz and glamour it is often perceived to be.
One season can bring international honours and just a few years later an injury can throw a career into limbo. For everyone but the select few it is a tough old slog which can be extremely rewarding but also extremely cruel at times.
Steff Evans has experienced both sides of the coin during a career which yielded 13 Wales caps and a remarkable 74 tries for his beloved Scarlets. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
But, as he turns just 31 today, Evans is forging a new career for himself after struggling to find a contract in the professional game. Alongside a new job, he will play semi-professional rugby and for Carmarthen Quins.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was looking to go elsewhere in the pro game but things just didn’t pan out,” he tells WalesOnline.
“The market at the moment for rugby is pretty bad in general so I’m not going to hide away from the fact I was looking to go elsewhere in the pro game but no offers came to the table.
“I’ve got a bit of a connection with Carmarthen being from the area so I know a lot of players and some of the staff there.
“Thanks to Brian Jones (a Scarlets board member and Castell Howell owner) I have got a job as an ESG Engagement Officer with Castell Howell.
“Basically I go into schools and colleges to promote healthy eating. It’s basically nutritional value stuff.
“I’m working closely with Welsh farmers and helping them get their stock into Castell Howell and using that then within schools.
“I actually did what my job entails when I was at the Scarlets. I did a talk in a school about nutrition with a guy from Castell Howell who is now my boss.
“Healthy eating is important, which I appreciate having kids myself. When you have children and you see the state of the way healthy eating isn’t that big anymore it is quite a valuable asset.”
The professional game, especially in Wales, is unpredictable at the moment and it is a lot harder to get contracts than it was just a few years ago.
Evans admits the last few months at the Scarlets were difficult to deal with having worked hard to return from a torn Achilles towards the end of the 2023/24 season, while talks with other potential suitors brought with it a rollercoaster of emotions.
“To be honest I don’t think there ever was a negotiation (with Scarlets),” he says. “I was just told that I wouldn’t have had a contract.
“I saw the writing on the wall a little bit with Blair Murray and Ellis Mee coming through.
“It was tough because having to come back from injury and trying to get yourself back into the game, only to get told four or five weeks after coming back fit there’s no contract here was very tough to take. I’ve never been in that situation before.
“It was hard to take and I thought I would have picked something up quite easily but obviously I didn’t realise how bad the market was.
Scarlets’ Steffan Evans scores in the 2017 Pro12 final(Image: 2017 CameraSport)
“Not having those minutes at the end of the year to show myself to different clubs was hard. The unknown for my family was tough.
“I don’t want to be the guy who lets my family down. My wife wants security and it’s hard when you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“You get interest from another club and then all of a sudden it is gone within a day. So, you get really uplifted with some interest but then you are knocked back down within a day.
“It’s hard for them because they want to know what’s going on and they want security. The months would go by and nothing was coming my way.
“Brian from Castell Howell has been amazing in giving me this job. I just wanted a bit of security for my family and the way the rugby is right now I think I’ve made the right decision here.”
But Evans has enjoyed a professional career he can be proud of.
May 27, 2017 is a date which will be embedded in Evans’ memory for as long as he lives.
It was the zenith of his rugby career and the moment which propelled the then 22-year-old into the big time. In the 20th minute of the PRO12 final between the Scarlets and Munster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin the west Walians decided to counter attack from deep inside their own 22.
Jonathan Davies broke clear up the touchline before releasing Evans down the wing.
Evans passed inside to Davies before the Wales centre passed back to Evans for a decisive try as the Scarlets thumped Munster 46-22.
Just a week earlier he had terrorised Leinster in the first-half of a remarkable PRO 12 semi-final victory over Leinster on their own patch, with Evans even being compared to Wales legend Shane Williams by some experts.
Steff Evans with his wife Teleri and children Sia and Talis
“I can’t look past the PRO12 final victory over Munster for the Scarlets,” he tells WalesOnline.
“Those two years when we won the league and also went close again the following year and also got into the semi-final of Europe.
“All my successes came off the back of that and I won my first Wales cap against Tonga at Eden Park a few weeks after the PRO12 final win over Munster.
“I started off that season with many people not knowing who I was or what I was about but as the years progressed having more people recognising me and people seeing what I can do.
“Actually getting to the final and scoring in the final with that try. I think that year having scored so many tries people started to realise who I was.
“The performances got better and better. I think the recognition of what I was doing.. people knew who I was.”
Evans was a devastating runner with wicked footwork and was an extremely intelligent rugby player who hit some great support lines.
The man from Llanelli impressed for Wales during his 13 caps and is one of the most prolific try scorers to have represented the Scarlets.
“The lead up into my first cap against Tonga was surreal,” he recalls.
“I didn’t expect it to be that good. My family came over to watch and it was amazing.
“I had my first cap with a few of the other boys I was close with as well who I’d come through the academy with.
“I’m glad I got to experience playing in Cardiff for Wales because when you are younger and you see it on telly and you see the clips on social media it’s one of those things you just want to do when you start playing rugby.
“That week with the build-up in the Vale there’s nothing like it. The buzz around the place is amazing.
“It was a childhood dream that came true for me.”
Steff Evans played 13 times for Wales(Image: Getty)
Evans was fortunate to have played with some great players and cites Scott Williams, Jonathan Davies, Johnny McNicholl and Gareth Davies as four of the best he played with.
“Me and Gareth Davies also had a great connection,” he said.
“He was scoring and I was scoring and we just always used to set each other up.
“That year I was coming through when Johnny McNicholl came over. I dived into his rugby mind and how he did things.
“In terms of the toughest opponents, Waisake Naholo taught me a few things in Cardiff once when I played against the All Blacks.
“A few years before I cracked it I went out to Connacht for a game away and Mils Muliaina was playing. I was a lot younger playing full-back and he was playing full-back for Connacht.
“I just think he made it look so much easier and the aggression he brought showed why he played so many games for the All Blacks.”
When it comes to professional rugby, the moments spent changing rooms are often just as precious as those made on the field of play.
“Rob Evans is definitely up there,” he said.
“To have him in the changing room was different level.
“James ‘Cubby’ Davies back in the day, not so much now, was also a big character. He was almost the first rogue rugby player in the Scarlets we had.
“Another one for me was Samson Lee. To just sit down with him for an hour just to see what he got up to on his day was brilliant.
“If somebody was to have a TV crew and follow him round it would have been brilliant. He’s gone from cockling to driving to mid Wales to pick up some sort of contraption he needed.
“He got up to things the normal professional rugby player would never get up to on their day off.
“He also did a lot of ferreting, a lot of fishing and he had multiple boats. It was fascinating. That’s why everyone loved him so much because he was so genuine.”
While his professional career has been put to one side for the time being Evans is chomping at the bit to get going with Carmarthen Quins and there is one youngster he is particularly excited about.
“For me it was about still having rugby in my life but not having it so serious,” he said.
“Training twice a week is perfect for me at the moment.
“I’ve played with a lot of players at Quins throughout the years. It’s nice to have that balance between still having rugby in my life but not having it so intense and taking over my life.
“It’s nice to see some of the players who are in the Scarlets pathway coming down to train. It’s also nice to still have an influence on the youngsters to help them through games.
“Carwyn Leggatt-Jones has been training with us and I can just tell he’s got that spark in him. Also, he’s happy to learn and listen.
“I’ve still got some information up my sleeve I can help him with.”
Evans’ journey shows that rugby careers don’t always end with a whistle — sometimes, they evolve.
From dazzling on the biggest stages to guiding young players and promoting healthy futures, he’s found new ways to make an impact.
His chapter as a pro may be closed, but his influence on the game is far from over.