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Canadian international Evan Olmstead will start for Newcastle Falcons in their Aviva Premiership opener against Sale Sharks at Kingston Park on Friday evening. Featuring for the visitors will be US Eagles flyhalf AJ MacGinty. For each this will be their first match in the Premiership after joining from London Scottish and Connacht respectively during the off-season.
Newcastle will begin their quest to improve upon their 11th place finish of last season with a strong selection that includes nine full internationals in the run-on side. Scottish front rowers Jon Welsh and Scott Lawson will team up with Tongan tighthead Taione Vea, with youngster Will Witty handed his second Premiership start and Olmstead preferred on the blindside after a strong showing in pre-season action.
One-time All Black flyhalf Mike Delany partners Ikale Tahi star Tane Takulua, with Pumas World Cup centre Juan Pablo Socino starting in the midfield. A pair of Pacific Island finishers prowl on the wing with Samoa’s Sinoti Sinoti on the left and Fijian ace Vereniki Goneva on the right. Ohio Aviators export Dom Waldouck features on the bench after securing a full-time deal following a month-long trial.
The Sharks match up well with nine fully capped players of their own, including new recruits Rob Webber and Halani Aulika in the front row. Eifion Lewis-Roberts holds down the left side of the scrum with former All Black lock Bryn Evans partnering Russia’s Andrei Ostrikov in the engine room. Samoan dynamo TJ Ioane runs out at openside with club captain Josh Beaumont a surprise choice on the blindside instead of his usual no8 position.
British & Irish Lions test veteran Mike Phillips will partner MacGinty in the halfbacks, with Samoan hammer Johnny Leota at centre. Scotland 7s rep Byron McGuigan makes his Sharks debut at fullback after arriving from Exeter, and former England flanker Magnus Lund is named among the replacements.
Kickoff is set for 8pm local time. A delayed broadcast will air on Sportsnet World in Canada at 4:30pm ET.
NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1 Jon Welsh 2 Scott Lawson 3 Taione Vea 4 Calum Green 5 Will Witty 6 Evan Olmstead 7 Will Welch (capt.) 8 Mark Wilson 9 Tane Takulua 10 Mike Delany 11 Sinoti Sinoti 12 Juan Pablo Socino 13 Chris Harris 14 Vereniki Goneva 15 Simon Hammersley
16 Ben Sowrey 17 Alex Rogers 18 Sam Lockwood 19 Opeti Fonua 20 Callum Chick 21 Sam Egerton 22 Joel Hodgson 23 Dominic Waldouck
SALE SHARKS
1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts 2 Rob Webber 3 Halani Aulika 4 Bryn Evans 5 Andrei Ostrikov 6 Josh Beaumont (capt.) 7 TJ Ioane 8 Laurence Pearce 9 Mike Phillips 10 AJ MacGinty 11 Neville Edwards 12 Johnny Leota 13 Sam James 14 Will Addison 15 Byron McGuigan
16 Neil Briggs 17 James Flynn 18 Kieran Longbottom 19 Jonathan Mills 20 Magnus Lund 21 David Seymour 22 James Mitchell 23 Dan Mugford
Referee: Greg Garner
