KEY POINTS:
In the space of 80 minutes Nick Evans has gone from the player who is hard to fit into the team to the guy who is tough to leave out.
The talented utility started yesterday at fullback before slotting seamlessly into first five-eighths for the final quarter of
yesterday's romp over Romania.
His, and to a lesser extend Luke McAlister's, performances have gone some way to alleviating the anxiety over Dan Carter's calf injury.
"We're not panicking," coach Graham Henry said. "We know we have two good players there who can do the business."
Evans was arguably the game's outstanding contributor - he scored a try, had a hand in several others and potted six conversions from as many attempts - but here's the rub: if the three backline injury concerns - Mils Muliaina, Leon MacDonald and Carter - recover as expected this week, Evans will most likely find himself relegated to the bench for the quarter-final in Cardiff.
Assistant coach Wayne Smith acknowledged it was tough for Evans when Carter played in his preferred position of first-five.
"We're really pleased with Nicholas," Smith said. "He showed an ability to play at fullback and then switch to first-five and was very accurate.
"A lot of teams around the world would have him as their first choice [No 10]."
Evans said he had no problem switching roles from fullback to first-five as instinctively that is the position he knows best.
"It would have been a bit more difficult going from 10 to 15, feeling a bit starved of the ball and things like that, so it was comfortable going the other way."
Evans has been an impressive contributor at the back since coming on for MacDonald in the 20th minute of the test against Scotland. But the 27-year-old has no doubts about which position he prefers.
"I felt better at first-five. At fullback I've just got to read the lines a bit better.
"As the game wore on the big Romanian forwards tired a bit and that allowed myself and Aaron [Mauger] a bit more space to get the guys out wide away."
Evans said he would have no qualms about taking the No 10 jersey in what will be the white-hot atmosphere of a knockout match.
"Yeah, definitely. It's my job. I'd love to play a quarter-final at first-five or fullback. We'll just have to wait and see how he [Carter] comes through."
