The Canadian lock that Newcastle are relying on to avoid the drop
Canadian lock Evan Olmstead is uniquely qualified to help drag Newcastle away from the relegation trap door with just three Gallagher Premiership matches left for the north east England club to save themselves.
Olmstead faced a similar three-game shoot-out with Canada in Marseille in November when they needed to defeat Kenya, Hong Kong and Germany to grab the 20th and final qualifying spot for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The heavily-bearded Olmstead, who was brought back from New Zealand to bolster Newcastle’s forward power at the most crucial point of the season, believes that experience of delivering under pressure can help the Falcons survive.
The 28-year-old, 6ft 6in forward left Newcastle at the end of last season and headed to Auckland, helping them win the Mitre 10 Premiership Cup for the first time since 2007.
He was also part of the wider Blues Super rugby squad before Dean Richards, Falcons director of rugby, called to offer him a route back into the Premiership and high quality rugby in the build-up to the World Cup campaign.
Excited to be back! https://t.co/PPHd2y9Lnb
— Evan Olmstead (@EvanOlmstead21) February 25, 2019
Olmstead is well aware of the ramifications of relegation on and off the pitch for Newcastle and they must defeat an improving Northampton team at Kingston Park on Friday night, then Gloucester (away) and Bristol (home).
The Canadian, who played at the 2015 World Cup, said: “When I left we were in the Premiership play-offs last season and now it’s about staying alive. It’s about fighting for your job, your life and the organisation. Going down brings a lot of consequences. No-one has their head in the sand and our mindset is still positive. We will keep working hard.
“With Canada we had three games to qualify for the World Cup and there are many similarities with our current position at Newcastle. We went to Marseille knowing we had to get three from three and we did that. It’s the same now. If we can do the business we should be okay because I can’t see the other teams near us winning all of theirs.“
With no relegation worries in New Zealand rugby, Olmstead experienced a totally different mindset with players prepared to take the kind of chances not regularly seen in the Premiership.
He explained: “It’s completely different in New Zealand. The attacking and defensive philosophy and the emphasis is on skills and decision making rather than set-piece.
“It’s all about having a go and running with the ball because there is no relegation which means it’s high risk high reward while here it’s a more conservative game. I learnt about how to react to different players.
“Over here you could have a couple of players in the team who are bit random like Sinoti Sinoti or Niki Goneva in our squad, but over in New Zealand the whole back line is like that and so you have to get used to guys doing things that would be considered rogue over here. It was quite an experience.
“Going to the World Cup, hopefully we can ruffle a few feathers and we’re not going there just to turn up. We’re in a pool with New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia.
“At the last tournament I’d just broken into the Canada team and getting as much first-team action as possible in a high performance environment is really important leading into Japan.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Hopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
6 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
1 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
71 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to commentsI would like to see him say that to Eben face to face in a dark alley.
71 Go to commentsYep, lost in translation. There are arrogant people in Ireland, yes. As there are arrogant people in every country, but as a nation, arrogance is not a general characteristic in Ireland. There has not really had a strong representation for any global sport over the years, and hence arrogance is not endemic to Irish people in this regard. I seriously doubt that was said or meant by 12 or 13 players. If it was said, it would have been said in jest and to pay Etzebeth and the Springboks a compliment for how hard fought the game was.
71 Go to commentsOne of the few Bidwell articles I can agree with. If coaches played their players through niggles and consistently played them 80mins then you could make an argument for resting protocols - they obviously don’t and are incredibly responsible, let’s give up the resting nonsense and let the boys play.
4 Go to commentsDaniel Gallan, please for the love of all that is holy, stop writing about rugby. Or at the very least stop telling people you are South African.
21 Go to commentsThis Dr.Rassie 6-2 filth is spreading. We need to ask World Rugby to ban something
1 Go to commentsPity he couldn’t call him a liar to his face, such a brave man.
71 Go to comments“You ain’t counting to 12 or 13 straight after a game, son!” Just because you don’t doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t “I reckon if anyone said it they would have said, ‘Hopefully, see you in the final’.” Oh, you “reckon”, do you? You weren’t there, you weren’t part of the conversation but you know what was said… Id10T
71 Go to commentsNZ has such a rich history of quality number nines, and woman beaters.
1 Go to commentsThat’s what happens when you are scared of scrums
3 Go to comments