Breanne Nicholas: 'I’m really trying to embrace the milestone'

Breanne Nicholas is not one for the limelight.

So much so that after she was told she was going to break Bianca Farella’s all-time appearance record on the HSBC SVNS Series for Canada, she asked if her coaches were certain.

But sure enough, when the 32-year-old took to the field for her 46th Series tournament at Perth SVNS last month, she stood in a class of her own as her country’s most experienced player at the highest level of rugby sevens competition outside of the Olympic Games.

“I’m someone who can downplay accomplishments,” Nicholas told RugbyPass.

“I always joke about thriving in the shadows and stuff, but I’m really trying to embrace recognising the milestone and giving myself credit for the work I’ve put in over the years.

“I’ve tried to embrace everything that has come with it. But I also don’t want it to overshadow things. I still want to keep playing and all that stuff – but I am still thankful for the recognition.”

Since Perth, Nicholas has had consistent opportunities to reflect on her landmark outing under the Western Australia sun.

Including at the end of February at her birthday dinner, where former teammate Farella reminded Nicholas that they did not actually count tournaments at the start of her time in the Canada Sevens set-up.

While only two years Nicholas’ senior, Farella achieved plenty in her eight year career with Canada, including an Olympic bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and a second-place finish at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2013.

Nicholas’ 11-year career means she is the last remaining link to the legendary Canada team of yesteryear, which included the likes of Ghislaine Landy, Farella and Jen Kish.

Not everything has been perfect in Nicholas’ career. Perhaps the perfect definition of that is her omission from the Canada squad that won a silver medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

All these years have left Nicholas with plenty to look back on. Even though she maintains that she is nowhere near finished on the pitch.

“There’s been a lot,” Nicholas said. “There’s been so many different parts in the journey. I’ve been a starter. I’ve been captain. I’ve been on the bench. I’ve not been selected.

“There’s so many roles amongst the whole decade that I played a part in and I know it’s ever-changing. We have so many quality players that are playing now and want to put their hands up.

“I don’t want to take it for granted. It’s not always a guarantee that I’m going to get another time to play. It is almost embracing the fact that I put all this work in.”

 

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The 32-year-old stops for a moment to think about how she has changed in her 11 years in the Canada Women’s Sevens programme.

Being on the HSBC SVNS Series athlete has consumed nearly all of the Ontario-born players’ life. So, where to even start?

“I just loved playing and I wanted to be a professional athlete,” Nicholas said. “I did have fun. I was learning and there were way more learnings at the beginning.

“In the middle is when I was overthinking, trying to perfect things too much, trying to please coaches or trying to do what I think they want me to do.

“Then you just play stiff and you lose some enjoyment because you’re playing for the wrong reasons. I feel like the start and the end is where I’m getting it right. I love the game. I love playing. I like having fun.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nicholas is the most experienced player named by head coach Jocelyn Barrieau in the squad for Vancouver SVNS this weekend.

It is a strong squad for the tournament and includes a return to the side for Florence Symonds, Piper Logan, Keyara Wardley and Chloe Daniels. There is also the potential for Claire Gallagher to make her seven-a-side debut.

Nicholas will only be playing at her third Vancouver tournament this weekend. She has even been the 13th player at one edition of the competition, but nothing beats actually being on the pitch and playing in front of a home crowd.

“It’s almost more nervous to be honest,” Nicholas said. “Friends and family are going. You are more aware and you are more nervous. They’re seeing me in real time.

“While you’re away, you know people are tuning in and for me it is just background noise. In Vancouver you have got to set it aside.

“You just want to use it in the right ways and have it help your performance. It’s nice to see them after a game on the side or hear a friendly voice between games when we have a chance to head up into the crowd. It’s always fun.

“Canadians just supporting Canada. There’s a lot of other fans supporting other countries too and the fancy dress. It’s extra special. Every time you run on the field it’s special. But extra special in Vancouver.”

After four legs of this HSBC SVNS Series season Canada are fifth in the overall standings.

In their most recent stops in Singapore and Perth, Nicholas and her teammates finally got their first podium of the season in Southeast Asia before a fifth-place finish in Western Australia.

With Vancouver and New York acting as the final stages of the regular season, ahead of HSBC SVNS World Championship events in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux to close out the campaign.

All year Canada have been able to rotate their squad heavily. This has included a number of players competing for Premiership Women’s Rugby clubs being rotated into the team and emphasising the importance of the union’s One Squad mentality.

“I feel like we’re evolving each tournament,” Nicholas said. “We have so many people to choose from and a lot of people are doing their own adventures in PWR.

“We are embracing the One Squad mentality, and it is building a huge team culture and cohesion.

“It keeps the environment competitive but also keeps a lot of people in the game. If we can have a big chunk of people to choose from, then we could definitely become the best nation.

“I’d say we’re still learning each other’s styles and it’s just having fun and trying to have fun while trying to get those standards.

“Just reaching for the top continuously. Consistency is our main aim all of the time. We’re always shooting for it and we’re working our way there.

“There’s been a lot of close games throughout the whole season. We’ve lost a few just by one score. Then Singapore is a bit different where we won by maybe one score. We’re kind of slowly flipping it around.”

For these final two events of the season Nicholas does not see much change on the horizon for Canada. All season the North Americans have always been there or thereabouts, even with their regular changing of the guard.

Even so, the familiarity of home is a good place to stick to the process and finish the regular season on a high ahead of the HSBC SVNS World Championship tournaments.

 

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“Our team objective that we’re always trying to strive for is being the best nation in the world and consistently on the podium,” Nicholas said.

“It is something to strive for. But to not focus on outcomes. It’s striving to have connection on the field and off the field. We have so many valuable, talented players and we have a good staff.

“It’s just getting it all together and consistently putting on a show and putting out the performances that we know we can.”