Nicola Howat

Second row forward Nicola Howat joined Sale Sharks Women from Edinburgh University Ladies RFC ahead of the start of the 2020/21 Premier15s season. 

Originally from Fife, in Scotland, she’s equally happy in the back row. Wherever she plays, her running lines and ability to offload in and around the contact area provide valuable go-forward. 

Nicola started playing rugby in her third year of high school when the school formed a girls’ team. She joined her hometown club, Howe of Fife, where she was selected as the club’s 2015/16 Player of the Season. In their 2016/17 season, Howat was part of the team won the BT National Division 2 Championship, gaining them promotion to BT National Division 1. 

In 2017, she was part of the Edinburgh University team that won the BUCS Championship trophy at Twickenham. The team won the league, championship cup and championship 7s all in the same year. In 2018, she captained the Edinburgh University Ladies Rugby Football Club’s 1st XV. 

She represented Scotland in the U19s, U20s and at Sevens level, before joining the SRU Academy programme in 2017. 

She made her full international debut in the 2018 Six Nations and went on to play in the 2019 and 2021 competition too. 

Outside rugby, Nicola works as a vet in a small animal practice.