At nearly two metres tall and 115kg, Canadian international Evan Olmstead's easy to spot.

His distinctive look stands out, much like his performances..

And now he's close to provincial rugby's 'Holy Grail', with Auckland on the cusp of a first trophy in 11 seasons.

"I knew Auckland had battled the year before, so I came in with pretty low expectations," says Olmstead. "I wanted to come in to do my best I could and really happy it's gone this way.

Since representing Canada at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, he's gone on to play for the Newcastle Falcons in the English Premiership. Now, his rugby OE has taken him to Eden Park.

"I'd heard for a long time that my particular style would well in NZ, so to have the opportunity to come down has been fantastic."

Auckland forwards coach and former All Blacks loose forward Filo Tiatia agrees.

"He likes contact, he's very abrasive, it's a style I like. He works really hard."

And now Olmstead hopes his form's good enough to stay.

"Super Rugby is obviously something I've always wanted to do," he says. "I feel like I've been one of the form players of the comp, but there is a lot of choice and being a foreigner doesn't help.

"Fingers crossed things work my way."

Another big performance in tomorrow's Mitre 10 Cup premiership final against Canterbury could see him not only celebrate with the trophy, but a Super Rugby contract as well.

Newshub.

Join us at 4pm Saturday for live updates of Auckland vs Canterbury Mitre 10 Cup premiership final at Eden Park.