Evans admits he is unsure if he'll play rugby again

THOM Evans has admitted that he is unsure if he will try to play rugby again, as he recovers from a serious neck injury he suffered during the Wales v Scotland match in the Six Nations Championship last month.

There were fears that the Glasgow and Scotland player would be left paralysed following a collision with Welsh full-back Lee Byrne, but expert medical attention has allowed him to begin to make a recovery.

Evans is now trying to regain fitness, but says he will make a decision on his playing career at the end of this season. His brother Max, who played in the match which saw his brother stretchered off, has already said he would prefer Thom not to play rugby again.

"Max has been trying to get me to slow down and not push it too much," said Thom. "I'm just trying to get back to fitness slowly and I'm going to make that decision at the end of the season. It's something that I will need to think long and hard about.

"At the moment, I'm not really sure. Max has said he'll be 100 per cent behind me no matter what decision I end up making."

Evans' injury occurred in the bruising and dramatic match at the Millennium Stadium on 13 February, which Wales won 31-24 thanks to a last-gasp Shane Williams try, and also saw championship-ending injuries sustained by Chris Paterson and Rory Lamont.

At the time the Scotland team medic Dr James Robson said: "Thom appeared to be tackled from behind with his arms pinned and (he] went into Lee Byrne and had a forced movement to his neck. There will be a long period of rest and recuperation, but that is the end of his season.

"Thom had sustained slippage to one of the vertebrae and that needed to be eased back into place. Plenty of people have come back from neck injuries of this type and then resumed playing rugby but we will wait and see how he gets on."

After being carried from the field on a stretcher, Evans was taken to Cardiff University Hospital. His parents were at his side as he went into surgery. Evans was visited in hospital by the Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans, his father's cousin, who had attended the match.

Evans expressed his gratitude for the quick-thinking of Dr Robson, who immediately realised the gravity of the situation and stopped the player from moving. Evans said: "If James hadn't been there so quickly I might have tried to move and caused more serious damage. I'll forever be grateful for the excellent medical care I received and I can't thank them enough."