Odendaal ready to step up for Saints as they take on the Falcons

The powerful South African centre has been beset by injuries since arriving from Japanese side Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo last summer.

He suffered a shoulder problem towards the end of his time at his former club and then picked up a hamstring issue in training at Saints.

Odendaal was able to make his debut for the black, green and gold in the win against Sale Sharks on December 30, playing 73 minutes.

But he then suffered a concussion in the victory at Exeter Chiefs on the following weekend.

He returned to action from the bench in the memorable 26-23 success at Munster last Saturday.

And now, with Saints missing several first-choice backs due to injury and international call-ups this week, Odendaal is ready to make the most of his chance to shine as Newcastle Falcons come calling for a Gallagher Premiership game at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens (kick-off 2pm).

“This week is a little bit different because we lost a couple of the international guys, so there is a bit of a shuffle in the team,” Odendaal said.

"There’s more of a shuffle in the backline just because we have lost the likes of Dingers (Fraser Dingwall) and Freemo (Tommy Freeman).

"Some of the guys coming in haven’t played a lot, so it is a great opportunity for them to actually put their foot in and get selected for a couple of games when we come back after the break.

"A couple of guys are getting an opportunity in the backline which is very exciting. Hopefully we can put our hands up this weekend.”

On his start to life at Saints, Odendaal said: “So far it has been really good.

"The first month, month and a half was quite tough to just settle in. But other than that, just getting over the injuries was my main thing.

"It’s really great to be in the mix and be amongst the boys.

“It is always tough to join a club and you are on the sidelines. You cannot really do anything.

"I feel that I am still struggling a bit for form, I played a couple of games but unfortunately got the head knock against Exeter. So because of the HIA (protocols) I had to miss another game.

"I got just over 15 minutes against Munster.

"It is a great opportunity for me to get 80 minutes under my belt this weekend.”

Odendaal actually played more minutes than he expected to on his debut against Sale last month.

He said: “That was actually surprising, I didn’t think that I was going to play that long.

"I probably pushed it to 60 minutes but then Hutch (Rory Hutchinson) picked up a niggle, Furbs (George Furbank) picked up a niggle and we went with a 6:2 split (on the bench). So as the game went on, I thought maybe I would have to play 80.

"Luckily the lungs still held in there.

"The first game of the season is always a tough one, just to get that game fitness.

"I think in pre-season you can get as fit as you want but game fitness is something else. I was glad to get through it.”

After this Saturday’s game, Saints will have a lengthy break from action as they don’t play another Premiership match until they travel to Bristol Bears on March 22.

And Odendaal said: “We spoke about it on Monday – you don’t want to go into that off time, that break, coming off a loss.

"The main focus for us is to keep doing what we’re doing, focus on us and hopefully we can get the result this weekend. We want to finish on a high.”

Odendaal knows the Falcons will come out firing after winning at Perpignan last weekend.

"We have a massive focus on this game,” he said.

“Especially the shift between the European games and the Premiership games, we can’t lose our focus and think it is just going to be a walkover or an easy game.

"Even though they haven’t had the results, they had a win last weekend so we know they are going to come out all guns blazing so we have to be ready for that.”