Evans was born in Hastings and attended high school in Napier. He was accepted into the New Zealand Secondary Schools team in 2002 and played for the
New Zealand Divisional XV in 2005. The following year, he made his provincial debut for
Hawke's Bay in the
Air New Zealand Cup. In 2008, Evans signed with the
Blues in the Super 14. For the 2009 season, he switched to the Wellington-based
Hurricanes. Evans joined English club
London Irish in 2011 on a two-year contract. The All Black second row was one of numerous international players to join the club in 2011. On 10 June 2014, Evans joined French club
Biarritz Olympique in the
Pro D2 league. On 21 May 2015, Evans returned to England to sign for
Sale Sharks on a two-year contract. He left Sale at the end of his contract on 30 June 2020. On January 3, 2020, he was named in the English Premiership team of the decade, following successful spells at
London Irish and Sale. Following his stint in England and France, Evans returned to New Zealand, with plans of becoming a winemaker at a winery in Hawke's Bay that had recently been purchased by the Evans family. Evans returned to play for
Hawke's Bay from
2020, nine years after last playing for the side, in the reformed
National Provincial Championship and subsequently signed to play for the
Highlanders for the
2021 and
2022 Super Rugby seasons. Evans retired from professional rugby after the
2022 National Provincial Championship season. ==International career==