Claudia Nielsen set to suit for University of Sydney in 2022 Uni 7s series

The 25-year-old was chasing her hockey dreams when she was given a shot with the Rugby WA Super Rugby side.

Now, she is on the periphery of the Australian 7s squad, and about to lace up the boots on the national stage again. She has been named in the University of Sydney team for the Uni 7s series, which kicks-off in Adelaide next weekend.

It's one of a few exciting things on the radar for the former Calrossy student, who led the Old Girls Blue team to victory in their alumni game on Saturday and was adjudged the player of the match.

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"There's a few tours for the Aussie A program," she said.

"They'll pick a team for PNG, Dubai and somewhere else next year, which is really cool because they'll tag onto the World Series tournaments."

"Our Australian girls will play in the main World Series, and there's a pool below which is competitive pool (which the A's will play in) and there's a social pool."

Invited to be involved in the A program last year on the back of her performance for Sydney Uni during the Uni 7s, Nielsen feels "fortunate" for the opportunity.

"It's hard, you sort of get a bit of impostor syndrome, but I've definitely become a better player from it," she said.

"It's just having the confidence to back the ability that got you into the program in the first place."

"[But] There's always so many more skills to learn."

But she is starting to feel more comfortable that she does belong at that level.

"It's still always a daunting experience, but I just try and learn something new and find my place in teams," Nielsen said.

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"Because once you get to that level, everyone's fit, everyone's fast, everyone's skillful. So I think it's just learning to back my own skills."

"But yeah, I'm loving it. The girls are great and they're really supportive; everyone wants to see everyone else rise."

She was backing up on Saturday from helping Sydney Uni take out rugby 7s competition at the UniSport Nationals in Perth during the week.

It was the first time she had been back to the city that she used to call home - and was where this rugby adventure all kicked-off - since COVID turned what was initially planned to just be a post-Super W holiday into a more permanent return east.

She joked that she "didn't remember the place" but said it was nice to catch up with a few of the UWA students that she played with.

Finishing at Calrossy in 2015, she enjoyed getting to catch up with old school-mates on Saturday. It was also a chance to pull on the school colours for the first time on the rugby field.

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"I didn't ever think I'd be playing rugby," she said.

It simply "wasn't a thing" when she was there.

"I think there was a tiny comp and we just called it Chugby," she said.

"And then you'd go and watch the boys Friday night footy.

"But how unreal, that we do our own footy now and the girls game's just grown so much."

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