Former All Black second row Bryn Evans enjoyed a stellar first year at London Irish cementing his spot in the second row.

The strong athletic forward made 25 appearances and scored two tries, one of which was a fantastic score against Leicester in front of 20,000 supporters at the St Patrick's Party.

Evans, who played for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic provincial competition, made his All Black debut in the two home series test matches against France in 2009, before a back injury kept him sidelined for the international and domestic (Air New Zealand Cup) campaign.

The New Zealander, who stands 196cm and weighs 115kg, was signed by the Hurricanes in 2009 after an impressive domestic season with Hawke's Bay where he was the heart and soul of the team that reached the Air New Zealand Cup semi-finals. Evans continued his good form in his rookie Hurricanes season, earning 11 caps including three in the starting XV. In 2010 Evans played in all 13 of the Hurricanes matches including eight starts at lock forward.

Evans is part of Brian Smith's leadership group and has captained the Club this season in the absence of Declan Danaher.

Evans played for the Blues in the 2008 Super 14 and has previously represented the New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2002, New Zealand Divisional XV in 2005 and the New Zealand Juniors.