The UAE women’s sevens team has named a 13-player squad for the opening round of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series in Suzhou, China.
Round 1 will take place on August 29 and 30, with UAE Rugby competing alongside 11 other national teams in the expanded women’s competition. The 2026 series has increased from eight to 12 teams.
Alexandrea Cook and Georgia Barber have been named co-captains. Both have considerable experience with the national sevens side, with Cook having previously captained the UAE during the Asia Rugby Sevens Series.
Amanda Hameon and Hollie Murphy also return to the squad, while Maddison Mellish is included after representing the UAE in last year’s series. Mellish scored five tries during the 2025 competition, with Barber also among the UAE’s leading scorers.
Isabel Sands, Elle Preston and Megan Theocharis are among those selected after representing UAE rugby at age-grade level earlier. Sands was part of the UAE Under-18 programme, while Theocharis represented the country at Under-18 level before moving into senior rugby.
The full UAE squad is:
Amanda Hameon, Isabel Sands, Stephanie Liwo, Rafielle Barrack, Alexandrea Cook (CC), Georgia Barber (CC), Maddison Mellish, Hollie Murphy, Ciara McDonnell, Miranda Parchoma, Fatma Alsuwaidi, Elle Preston and Megan Theocharis.
The Asia Rugby competition calendar will conclude with Round 2 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on October 17 and 18.
