Nicole Purdom Photo PHOTOSPORTMid Canterbury’s Nicole Purdom will be hoping she can finish the representative season on a high before she packs her bags and heads overseas.

The loose forward is in her third season playing for Canterbury, and will be hoping to take to the paddock in the final of the Farah Palmer Cup this Sunday.

“They last played in the final in 2013, the year before I arrived so it will be good have a go in it,” she said. “With the team we have it is definitely something we are capable of winning.”

Purdom first started playing rugby when she was five, and first started playing senior rugby when she was only 13, something that would not happen today.

Like many other New Zealand rugby fans who are in their 20s, the 21-year-old grew up following Dan Carter, before looking towards the big name women’s players such as Kendra Cocksedge, who she now calls her team-mate.

“She also plays for my club team which is a pretty cool thing,” she said.

After the 80 minutes or more against Counties Manukau is up next week, Purdom will not have any time to put her feet up, as she will be packing her bags, ready to move to Ireland over the summer.

“I have just finished my degree at university so I will be heading over there to play and do a bit of coaching,” she said.

“I will be doing work coaching trying to help them get their game up to the New Zealand level.

“They had the World Cup in Dublin this year and they have only had women’s teams over there for a few years so it should be interesting.”

There is every chance Purdom could be joined by another Mid Cantabrian on the field on Sunday, with Melanie Puckett featuring on the bench for the side in their semifinal victory against Waikato.

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 26 October 2017