Ollie Olds (born 14 August 1993) is a Welsh professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a or for the

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Championship. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. Before 1996, the club was known s ...

in the

RFL Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the Rugby Football League Championship Second Division, second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football Lea ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at international level.

Background

Olds was born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

, Wales.

Club career

A former Wales under-16's international, Olds joined the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

on trial in 2011, and later joined the club on a permanent basis, becoming the regular scrum-half in their under-20's team. During his time at

, Olds played two games for

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...

on dual registration. Olds then joined the

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

in 2013, before heading to Australia to play for

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...

. Following multiple knee and ankle operations, Olds initially retired from the sport in 2020, but was persuaded to come out of retirement by his brother.

International honours

Having represented Wales at junior level, Olds made his début for

in a mid-season international against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 2012. He became one of a select number of players to make his international début before his senior début at club level. Olds played in the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2015 European Cup The 2015 European Cup was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place between 16 October and 7 November in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland. Scotland were the defending champions. Four teams competed in the 20 ...

tournaments. Olds scored his first international tries in Wales' first game of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifiers, scoring a double against Serbia. Olds scored a try for Wales in their opening match of the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

against the Cook Islands. Wales would narrowly lose the match 18-12.

References

External links

Wales profileWelsh profileSearch for "Ollie Olds" at bbc.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olds, Ollie 1993 births Living people Ipswich Jets players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Bridgend South Wales Scorpions players Souths Logan Magpies players Swinton Lions players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players York City Knights players