Coast rugby union star has made a lifelong dream come true after debuting for the Australian 7s team

Former Coast rugby union player has debuted against the world's best rugby 7s players

Nick Chapman (left) with good mate Jordan Luke after a rugby 7s tournament in March.

A former Coast rugby union star has made a lifelong dream come true after debuting for Australia at the Trans Tasman Rugby 7s Tournament in New Zealand.

Nick Chapman, 27, moved to Brisbane from the Sunshine Coast in 2015 and has endured a long road to reach the elite level.

The former Noosa Dolphins scrum half said it was an amazing experience across the three days.

“It’s always been a huge focus and main goal of mine so it honestly was a dream come true,” he said.

“To be able to play at a professional level and represent my country was an unreal opportunity and a massive learning experience.

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After playing against the Australian 7s side in lower level tournaments, Chapman said it was great to be able to play with and against the players at the top of their game.

“Players like Maurice Longbottom and Henry Hutchinson have been some of the best in the world for a long time now and have plenty of experience,” he said.

“Playing against pretty much the whole of the All Blacks team that are all very high level performers was unreal.

He said Caleb Clarke, who recently committed to 7s rugby, was a standout performer.

“He was definitely a challenge but I also got plenty of takeaways from his game,” he said.

Nick Chapman represents the Sunshine Coast Stingrays back in 2014. Picture: Brett Wortman

The Aussie 7s team went down in all six matches against the All Blacks but Chapman said it was a step in the right direction.

“Across all of the games we trialled new positions and new combinations within our team which made it hard to put up the results we wanted,” Chapman said.

“It made it all a very big learning curve for the team as a whole and we know we’re heading in the right direction ahead of Tokyo which is the main goal.”

Chapman said the opportunity for him to compete on the world stage at the Olympics would be incredible.

“Tokyo would definitely be another goal of mine but there’s some competition around positions and which players will be selected,” he said.

“Our next tournament is the Oceania 7s at the end of June which will be another good test and a step in the right direction for everyone involved.”

Originally published as Coast rugby union star has made a lifelong dream come true after debuting for the Australian 7s team