Evans would continue to compete at the Welsh Judo Championships every year until she attended university, where she took up rugby.

I was lifting way over my body weight and he said, “You’ll probably qualify for the Commonwealth Games if you went to the Welsh Championships”, and, being a competitive person, I thought, “Well, I’ve nothing to lose”.

Evans has since described competing in the two events as "one of the hardest things I’ve had to do" adding that it took her months to recover from the rapid change in weight.

[4] Evans made her debut for Wales against Scotland in 1996, going on to play 87 times for her country, competing in the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.

Evans became both a prolific try scorer and goal kicker for the national team, scoring 64 International tries and kicking a further 169 points.

Also in 1997, Evans became the first female reporter and presenter for men’s rugby union on the Welsh language television channel S4C.

Evans was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to sport, the first female rugby player to receive the award.

[6] In 2003, Evans married former Wales and Llanelli RFC rugby union flanker Mark Perego.