A PROMISING young rugby player is lucky to be alive after being slashed with a broken bottle in an unprovoked attack, his grandmother says.

Chris Evans (oictured) was slashed on the chest with a broken bottle as he walked home alone after a night out with friends.

His grandmother Carol Evans said: "It is lucky that the bottle wasn't any sharper - it could easily have pierced his heart.

"Instead of looking at his scars, we could be here looking at his coffin."

Chris, who is 16, told the Argus that the vicious attack happened in a lane behind Ebbw View Terrace in Newbridge.

He needed hospital treatment and seven stitches following the assault two weeks' ago which left him drenched in blood.

Chris, a former Newbridge Comprehensive pupil, plays for Caerphilly district and Gwent rugby teams and was recently selected for the elite squad for the Welsh team.

He has also just started studying sports science at Crosskeys College.

But his injuries have meant the sports-mad youngster has had to miss a match and some training sessions.

Chris said he was on his way home to his grandmother's house in Pant Road, Newbridge, at around 11.10pm when he was approached by the two young men. "One of them said 'are you Evans?' and when I said yes, he broke a bottle on the wall and glassed me with it a couple of times."

He said the attack only lasted about 30 seconds and the two men ran off down the lane. Chris was then helped home by a friend, an elderly couple who stopped to help and his aunt and uncle.

Mrs Evans said that when she saw her grandson she could hardly believe it. "His shirt was absolutely saturated in blood - it was like a bloodbath," she said.

Chris was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny where he received seven stitches in his wounds.

Police are seeking a man described as white, aged around 19 or 20, of medium build and with dark brown hair brushed forward and quiffed. He was said to have been wearing a dark shirt.

They are also looking to interview another man, who played no part in the attack, who is described as being white, about the same age, and wearing a dark checked shirt.

Anyone who witnessed the attack or who has any information should contact Detective Constable Wendy Glynn at Risca Police Station on 01633 612391.