Nicholas Vying For Spot With Canada’s Top Team
Breanne Nicholas runs in a try for Western in the OUA bronze medal game – Photo by Grace Chung/ Western Athletics
Nicholas will participate in the East camp in Kingston, Ontario from March 31-April 3, with another camp being held in the West in Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia.
After winning a silver medal at the 2014 Women’s World Cup National Senior Women’s Head Coach Francois Ratier is looking to identify Canada’s top talent in preparation for the next World Cup event.
“We want to identify more players this year to increase our depth in preparations for the 2017 World Cup,” said Ratier in a Rugby Canada news release. “These camps will allow players to show off their rugby talent, fitness and decision making skills.”
Nicholas has represented Canada multiple times playing prominent roles with Canada’s U-20 team at the Nations Cup and Can-Am Series, and also won a gold with Canada’s FISU team.
“It’s always exciting to see who has worked hard to close the gap between their performance in the Under-20 and University programs to Senior National rugby,” said Assistant Coach Colette McAuley.
Nicholas plays University rugby for the Western Mustangs, where she helped her team win a CIS bronze medal this past season, one year after being named the OUA Rookie of the Year. Wester also won OUA bronze this year.
Overall this season, Nicholas was Western’s leading scorer, and finished third in the OUA in point with 37, including 4 tries and 7 conversions.
Canada’s coaching staff is hoping to develop a depth chart of approximately 45 athletes after the camps, which they will use to build their roster for the 2017 World Cup.