Evans in for Quins as Kiwis count cost of player exodus

*RUGBY UNION

The strained relations between English rugby and the rest of the world game, underlined last week when Twickenham delegates struggled for support in their fight against the introduction of damaging experimental law changes for next season, were further soured yesterday when the All Black hierarchy in New Zealand confirmed that one of its prize assets, the Blues outside-half Nick Evans, had signed a three-year deal with Harlequins. It will be seen as another major coup for the Guinness Premiership - and another reason for the southern hemisphere to regard England as the devil incarnate.

Evans, who is scheduled to arrive in London in October, will be treading a well-worn path. A number of his colleagues in the All Blacks' party at last year's World Cup - Luke McAlister, Aaron Mauger, Carl Hayman, Chris Jack - have moved to the Premiership, and the New Zealanders fear there is worse to come. Jerry Collins, the folk-hero flanker from Wellington, has been linked with Bath and Daniel Carter, the pin-up boy from the South Island, is considering a variety of megabucks offers from north of the Equator.

As things stand, the All Black coaches will not select players operating outside New Zealand, although they may show some flexibility towards Carter and a small handful of other high- profile personnel by keeping them under contract while releasing them to Europe on a one-year sabbatical. Evans is lost to them, however. The length of the 27-year-old goal-kicker's agreement with Quins suggests he has turned his back on the 2011 World Cup, which will be held in his own country, in favour of a lucrative spell in top-class club rugby. Unsurprisingly, his national union is less than ecstatic.

Quins have played their recruitment cards close to their chest, but they were clearly in the market for a major signing at outside- half the moment they let this season's regular No 10, Adrian Jarvis, put pen to paper at Bristol. They would have struggled to land a better catch than Evans, whose form at the World Cup led shrewd observers to wonder whether he should have been selected ahead of Carter for the quarter-final with France - a game the All Blacks lost, despite controlling possession and territory for virtually the whole of the contest.

If the New Zealanders are feeling negative about things right now, Saracens are not best pleased with life either. The Watford- based club have been forced to move their final league fixture, against Bristol this Saturday, away from Vicarage Road because the Premiership authorities have denied them permission for an early kick-off. The match will be played at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes - new territory for Sarries and, indeed, for professional rugby union.

Under the terms of their groundshare agreement with Watford FC, Saracens cannot use the Vicarage Road stadium 24 hours or less before a football match - and Watford have Championship play-off business on Sunday afternoon. Conscious that the Bristol game marks the end of Richard Hill's playing career, Saracens understandably wanted the World Cup-winning flanker to bow out in familiar surroundings, in front of his home crowd, and were confident that with the game mathematically "dead" and therefore meaningless, they would be allowed to bring kick-off forward to midday.

However, Premier Rugby has its "rules are rules" head on and continues to insist that all last-round fixtures start simultaneously, as per regulations. A vote for common sense? Hardly.

"While it would have been nice for Richard to finish off his career at Vicarage Road, that won't be possible now," said Mark Sinderberry, the Saracens chief executive, who, rather euphemistically, described the situation as "not ideal".

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