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Like every rugby player, Alex Tessier does not play the sport for individual recognition. Still, when she was named on the four-person shortlist for World Rugby’s prestigious Women’s 15s Player of the Year award, the response was overwhelming.
The Canadian playmaker has enjoyed a stellar 2024, helping her country to a breakthrough Pacific Four title – their first in the full format of the competition, before coming close to upsetting the Red Roses in WXV 1 on home soil.
Alongside that, Tessier has thrived for Exeter Chiefs in PWR, with the team currently six from six and leading the way in her second season at Sandy Park.
She is one of a number of Canadians currently plying their trade in Devon, and Tessier admitted she had been blown away by the reaction to her inclusion on a shortlist that also features Harlequins full-back Ellie Kildunne and Gloucester-Hartpury No.8 Alex Matthews, with France scrum-half Pauline Bourdon-Sansus completing the quartet.
Tessier said: “It was a surprise, I don’t or play for that recognition but it’s been great and I’m super grateful to have it. It made it special to see teammates here and back home, all over the world, root for me and support me. It’s been heart-warming to hear all those comments. I’m very grateful and surprised in some ways.
“As a team in Canada, we’ve been building and progressing in what we are trying to achieve, which is next year’s World Cup. I think my teammates have been making life easy for me to step up. We’re going so well on and off the pitch, maybe that is why I was the lucky one to get the recognition.
How good is World Rugby Women's 15s Player of The Year Nominee Alex Tessier 🇨🇦 #RugbyCA | #OneSquad pic.twitter.com/19Ulla91gq
— Rugby Canada (@RugbyCanada) November 20, 2024
“WXV was special, as Canadians we don’t get much opportunity to play at home and experience that very often. Even though Canada is super wide, there was only a handful of athletes from the province itself, but it was still a home away from home.
“We heard our fans, it was disappointing to see the stadium so empty at times but in the last match, we heard the ones who were there and that was the most important part. I loved it.”
Tessier will be in Monaco this Sunday for the awards but with international duty done for the year, her main focus is on helping Chiefs maintain their strong start to the campaign.
With wins over Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens already under their belts, it has been a hugely impressive start to the season for Susie Appleby’s side.
And Tessier explained that there is only one ambition for the year – to go all the way.
She added: “There’s obviously always an awkward transition when you come back from internationals to the club but it’s been going really well. We’ve made an amazing start, we couldn’t ask for more. I’ve tried to adapt as quickly as possible.
“We’ve performed, we’ve beaten the top teams like Gloucester and Saracens so I’m very proud of the girls to have made such a strong start.
“I think we keep growing year on year. Last year was quite a disappointing finish but we still made the top four. So there were good moments throughout the year.
“We were just missing the final stages. We are building game after game, week after week, trying to nail those details which will allow us to finish first this year and be the top team when it counts.
“With the Chiefs, we want to win the league, that is the ultimate goal. We have to perform each weekend to nail the details. In order to have this experience, we need those quality games so that when it comes to the final stages, we know what to do. We want to finish in a good position in PWR and then after that, the focus will quickly shift to recovery and then for me, international mode and get ready to tackle the World Cup campaign.”
