Draft:Christian Olney

Christian Olney (born 30 May 1999) is an American Major League Rugby player who currently plays wing/fullback for New Orleans Gold for the 2023 season he was drafted in the 2022 MLR Draft.

High School
Christian begin playing rugby at the Leo Lion Middle School club as a captain. He then proceeded to play Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana from 2014 to 2018 where he won 2 state Championships and was named Captain his Senior season.

College
Christian played college rugby at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio as a student from 2018 to 2022. He sat out his first year of eligibility at Ohio State in 2018 after tearing his ACL his senior year at Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. However, after cancelled seasons from COVID he played as a senior in the fall and led them to a Big Ten Championship win over rival Indiana University as well as a CRAA Fall Classic bowl game win 67-34 against Air Force Academy. In the spring, Christian helped lead the Buckeyes to a USA Rugby 7s Collegiate Championships (R7CC) berth where they competed in the Men's Gold Division on May 14-15, 2022 going 1-1-2 overall.

Draft & Combine
Christian was drafted 27th overall (3rd Round 1st pick) in the 2022 MLR Draft hosted August 18th, 2022 by New Orleans Gold and was 1 of only 3 wings/fullbacks taken in the draft. He recently played for the NOLA Gold Academy during the 2022 American Rugby Premiership.

At the Rugby Showcase combine in Denver Colorado, Christian placed third in the vertical jump (37.25 inches) and fifth in the 40-yard dash (4.627 seconds).

USA Hawks
Christian was selected as an outside back to the 2023 USA Hawks squad in a new co-initiative between World Rugby, USA Rugby and MLR. This program was initiated to provide a residential full-time competition environment for up-and-coming domestic talent and future USA Men’s Eagles prospects in preparation for the 2027 Rugby World Cup. The Hawks squad relocated 28 highly touted players including Christian to train and compete in an international high performance environment.

The USA hawks tour included a 2-week 3-match South American tour in which the Hawks faced Selknam in Santiago Chile, Pampas and Argentina U20's rugby teams in Buenos Aires Argentina.