The truth is a touch more bland.
He is a 24-year-old engineering apprentice from Hawke’s Bay. But, hey, his father is from Iceland and he is blessed with Nordic features.
The North Otago lock is tall, sturdy and blond, and you have to imagine he would have been an asset in a longship.
He is certainly an asset in the second row for the Old Golds.
Einarsson, who plays for Southern in Dunedin club rugby, answered a call to play in the Heartland competition this season and piles into a crowded car full of Dunedin-based players who head north to Oamaru for training twice a week.
‘‘There’s a carload of us. There is myself, Charles Elton, Sean Jansen and our prop Tristan [Fuli],’’ he said.
‘‘It is a step up physically. You’ve got guys in the opposite team who don’t mind [hitting hard] if they can.
‘‘There are teams like, say, Whanganui, who run it a lot more and play with a fast pace and are a bit smarter about their play.
‘‘At Heartland level, there are always a couple of experienced guys that can really change a game.’’
Einarsson played for the First XV while at Napier Boys’ High School before moving to Christchurch for university, then heading to Dunedin for work.
He played for Zingari-Richmond initially but switched to Southern this season.
The Magpies were knocked out of the playoffs by Green Island but another door opened.
Southern coach Luke Herden, the former long-serving Old Golds back, asked him if he would be keen to play for North Otago in the Heartland competition.
He was interested and, after a follow-up call from North Otago coach Jason Forrest, an agreement was reached.
North Otago will travel north to play Whanganui in the Lochore Cup final on Sunday.
It is a tough assignment. Whanganui beat North Otago 45-12 in Whanganui late last month.
The teams met in the Meads Cup final two years ago and North Otago won that fixture. But the Old Golds have undergone a more or less total rebuild.
They have a relatively young side with notable exceptions in veterans Lemi Masoe and Ralph Darling.
‘‘We’ve had a couple of hairy games in our season which you could probably put down to inexperience. But the team, I feel, has grown massively.’’
Einarsson feels North Otago will need to start with more physicality against Whanganui and look to take the game to the home side in the forwards.
‘‘And when we’ve got the ball we need to play a bit smarter.’’
