Swinton Lions have announced the signing of Welsh International half-back Oliver Olds, who featured strongly for Wales in the recent World Cup.

Ollie’s arrival will therefore bolster the Wales international ranks at the club yet further, adding of course to Rhodri Lloyd, Mike Butt and Gavin Bennion.

Born in Bridgend in 1993, Ollie joined Leeds Rhinos at the age of 18 where he established himself as first choice scrum-half in their under 20s team. A couple of years later he left for Australia, where he first featured for Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup, and more recently the Fortitude Valley Diehards in the Brisbane Cup.

Ollie has won 11 caps for Wales, and like team-mate Rhodri Lloyd was a try scorer in the recent narrow loss to the Cook Islands at the Rugby League World Cup. As a Welsh international half-back, he follows in the same footsteps of former Swinton greats such as Billo Rees and Ian Watson.

Head Coach Allan Coleman said, “It’s great to have Ollie on board for next season as he will bring us a lot of direction on the field. I watched him play in the World Cup and thought he went really well. After meeting up with him I knew straight away that he was exactly the right sort of character and player that we needed. I can’t wait to see him in a Swinton jersey!”