Jarrod Evans has been rewarded for his fine form with a new long-term contract to remain at Cardiff Blues.
The young fly-half, who made his regional debut in 2015, has established himself as an integral member of the first team squad and has now made 58 appearances for his home region.
Regarded as one of the best attacking fly-halves in the Guinness PRO14, Evans was called up by Wales for the Autumn Tests and made his international debut against Scotland last November.
He remains in Warren Gatland’s Six Nations squad but has been released back to Cardiff Blues for the crucial PRO14 clash with Isuzu Southern Kings on Saturday (7.35pm).
Evans was delighted to pledge his future to the Blues and is excited about the future at Cardiff Arms Park.
He said: “This is my home region and I’m obviously really happy here, so it was a simple decision to put pen to paper.
“We demonstrated last season, by winning the Challenge Cup, what we are capable of and the potential we have at Cardiff Blues.
“I feel like we are getting better and we have a lot of young players coming through the ranks to complement the more experienced heads.
“It is an exciting place to be and with the style of rugby we try to play, and the environment we have, it is the best place for me to continue my development.
“We have some massive games coming up this season, starting with Saturday against the Kings, and we are determined to secure that top three finish and Heineken Champions Cup rugby.”
Evans, who is one of 25 first team players to have come through the Cardiff Blues academy system, has been in fine form since recovering from the shoulder injury he suffered in December.
He pulls on the number 10 jersey at the Arms Park tomorrow and Cardiff Blues head coach John Mulvihill believes he has a massive future in the game.
Mulvihill added: “Jarrod is one of the best attacking fly-halves in Europe and works really hard, both on and off the pitch, to be the best version of himself.
“He is a really good student of the game and is very diligent and professional in everything he does. He’s instinctively a very strong attacking player but is also able to defend in the front line and his kicking game is continually improving.
“It’s exciting to have him involved in our environment every day and as a young man he will only get better.
“He’s an important member of our squad and it’s great to secure his services on a long-term contract. I’m looking forward to working with Jarrod to help him become a world class 10 in the future.”