Hannah and Chloe Daniels grew up together in Sutton, Ont. and both played rugby. The sisters are now teammates on Queen's Women's Rugby and will play together in the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship, with Hannah in her fifth and final year at Queen's and Chloe in her first year. Hannah and Chloe sat down for an interview ahead of the tournament.

How did you get into rugby and did one sister inspire the other?

Hannah: Growing up our dad always wanted us to play rugby. He was a big rugby guy himself. I never really got the opportunity until high school because there weren't a lot of teams close by. When I started high school, I joined the team there. In Grade 9 I started and fell in love with it. Then I think Chloe was sort of inspired by me and started playing around the same time.

Chloe: Yeah, that is basically exactly what happened. When Hannah really enjoyed it at high school she got involved with a club and I just followed lead and joined at the same time.

What was it like growing up and playing for the same club? 

Chloe: This is our first year ever playing together but we were involved in the same club, which is always fun. We were going to practice at the same time with the Aurora Barbarians. It's definitely fun actually being on the same team this year.

Hannah: I think we got to experience growing up playing together in the sense that we would travel to practices every week, twice a week, together, and have the game days for Aurora Barbarians, our club team, every Saturday. We would go there and experience learning how to play together but we never actually got to step on the pitch together until this year, which was cool.

Any backyard rugby matches?

Hannah: Didn't we practice together one time in the front yard and we were tackling each other?

Chloe: I remember that. You were practicing your left-hand pass.

Hannah: Yeah, so we've definitely gotten out on the yard. Especially during COVID, I found when it first started and we had the skill sessions, I was back home so I didn't have my housemates to practice with as I usually would. We definitely did a lot of skill sessions together in the first few months before (Chloe) went out to B.C.

Was it always the plan to play together in university and go to Queen's?

Hannah: I grew up playing hockey as my main sport. When I was younger that was kind of the direction I had planned on going. But then when I started playing, I realized I really like rugby and can go far with rugby and then, instantly I was, 'yes, I want to go and play rugby in school instead.' There was a switch in mid-high school for me where I decided that. And Queen's was definitely always a school I was very interested in. So that was always my plan.

Chloe: I didn't always know what I wanted to do. Similar to Hannah, I also grew up playing hockey but for me I knew I wanted to play rugby at a high level and at university a bit earlier on since I started a bit earlier. I never really thought hard but I knew as soon as Hannah was at Queen's and I saw how much she enjoyed it, that was definitely one of my top choices for sure. It seemed like such a great environment and family dynamic, which was awesome and really made me want to come here as well.

As far as us planning to play together, I guess COVID changed some things because Hannah's in her fifth year, which may have been different if Queen's played last year but it just worked out really well.

Hannah: I wasn't initially planning to take a fifth year but because of COVID and our season being cancelled last year, I decided to come back for another one because I really wanted to play again. That ended up being really lucky because we're able to play together for the first time.

How has playing together and sharing the same experiences this year been?

Hannah: I love it. I think it's a lot of fun having a little sister on the team. 

Chloe: Yeah, it's definitely cool playing with her. To have someone to joke around with and obviously we grew up together so she's someone you connect with on a different level. It's also nice having her here since she's been here for four years, having someone to ask questions too. 

Can you describe each other's game?

Chloe: Hannah's super hard-working. That's something I always loved about her. She's everywhere on the pitch, I'd also say she's super aggressive in contact and tackling. She also has a great skillset.

So overall, a great player who I always looked up to growing up. Super hard-working for sure.

Hannah: Chloe's definitely very hard working as well. She has a very fast-paced, steppy game with really good ball movement, maybe because of her experience with Sevens too, working on speed. She's a facilitator on the field, a playmaker. But then also she has really good aggression, which is necessary for rugby.

How special will it be to experience the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship at Queen's in November together?

Hannah: I'm really excited. I've been to three U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championships so far and they've all been really exciting, but I don't think anything's going to compare to what it's going to be like playing those games in front of our home crowd. Even our OUA Final a couple years ago, the energy and the amount of people in the crowd was insane. Experience that, and looking over and seeing my sister beside me on the pitch is going to be really cool. And also having our parents be able to watch that too, because they haven't been able to go to the other ones out of province. Looking around and seeing all my family members around me in such a special moment, I think that's going to be really cool.

Chloe: It is also super cool that it is Hannah's last nationals and it's my first one. It's both in a really cool place, playing in front of a home crowd and having our parents be able to be there, and playing with each other will be super fun to end her Queen's career and to start mine off.