Thor fixes his hammer at Dragons with Sale looming

EVAN OLMSTEAD cannot wait to get his hands – and boots – dirty again as Newcastle trade their pristine plastic carpet for the mud bath of Rodney Parade.

Omitted from Newcastle’s European squad, the no-nonsense Canadian international second row is back in the fold as he looks to continue an impressive first season as a Premiership player in conditions well suited to a tight-five forward.

“I haven’t played in a nice mud bowl in a while. I’m sure the backs aren’t looking forward to it too much but as a forward it is a dream really, it takes those fancy boys right out of the game,” the 25year-old told The Rugby Paper.

Defeats to Northampton and Saracens have cost Newcastle any chance of progressing further in the AngloWelsh Cup but with an important trip to Sale to come in the Premiership in a fortnight’s time, Olmstead says the game serves a purpose.

“We’re sending down a strong, Premiershipquality team so that we can sharpen up a few areas of our game and ensure we’re flying by the time the Premiership returns.

“We’re quite close to the top six, and even the top four isn’t too far away, so we don’t want to take a week or two to warm up.”

Nicknamed Thor because of his long hair, beard and warrior-like qualities, Australianraised Olmstead is fast making up for lost time.

Barely 18 months ago, he was working as an accountant and playing rugby part-time in the Sydney Shute Shield competition despite playing at the World Cup for his native country.

Having impressed during the second half of last season at London Scottish, Dean Richards snapped him up.

Ten Premiership starts later and Olmstead is loving life at the Falcons.

“I’m really pleased with how it’s gone so far,” he said.

“When I was younger, I was a bit smaller than my age-group teammates – people like Wallabies Scott Sio and Michael Hooper – but, as a player, I knew I wasn’t that different; I knew I’d get there eventually.”

Juan Pablo Socino starts for the Falcons who make eight changes from the side selected for the Challenge Cup.

Sonatane Takulua, Vereniki Goneva, Belisario Agulla, Scott Lawson and Evan Olmstead all return to action.

Dragons forwards coach Ceri Jones said: “Newcastle will come heavy with their driving game. We need to deal with that. They will also try and put width on the ball while their pick-andgo and latch game is really strong in the 22.”

Adam Hughes captains the Dragons in his second match back after suffering a concussion in pre-season.

Nic Cudd starts after extending his contract, as does Harri Keddie. Thomas Davies is named alongside hooker Rhys Buckley and prop Brok Harris.