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28 March 2024

Two UAE rugby teams for Goa Sevens

Published
By Staff

Two squads will represent UAE Rugby in the third and final tournament of the 2011 Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Goa from November 19 to 20.

UAE Shaheen will join UAE Rugby’s Sevens team in the inaugural Goa event following on from last weekend when both teams were unbeaten in the UAE Rugby Seven’s Series hosted by Jebel Ali Dragons.

The UAE squad are no longer strangers to competing on international soil after participation in the first two ranking tournaments of the series, Shanghai Sevens in August and Borneo Sevens in September, to finish in ninth place overall. 

After an intense few weeks of training under the watchful eye of recently appointed Rugby Manager, Wayne Marsters, the team is ready to make their mark when they take the field over this coming weekend.

Marsters, tasked with the additional role of interim coach, which encompasses both the National Sevens and XVs teams, is impressed with the depth, commitment and experience he has overseen to date.

“Participating in international tournaments of this standard are absolutely central to our National team’s growth, we need to continually be exposed to a more challenging level of play in order to gain experience and match the needed intensity,” said Marsters said.

“I believe the mental aptitude is there,” he claims. “There is strong national pride, from all of our players. They are exceptionally proud to represent their country, stand shoulder to shoulder and to support each other on the field and that’s a solid foundation.”

UAE Rugby CEO Ian Bremner is very pleased with the invitations extended to UAE Rugby which provides an outstanding opportunity to extend competitive outings to more players.

“It is paramount we develop the current pool of our seven’s players to ensure we have depth and experience. This is a necessity if we are to progress at the rate we would like to,” said Bremner. “We are exceptionally pleased with the support UAE Rugby has received from the Asian Seven’s organising team, ARFU and the IRB allowing us to participate in the Goa Sevens.”

“We want to walk away from this final tournament making a clear statement to ARFU and our fellow unions that UAE Rugby is a progressive organisation and in time will be a top contender in seven’s rugby,” Bremner added.

UAE Rugby Squad:

Timothy Fletcher (captain)
Chris Gregory
Murray Strang
Sean Hurley
Brad Barker
Steven Smith
Stephane Imbert
Jon Venter
Quihen Maraisi
Mad Reyal
Shane Rutherford
David Matasio
Mohammad Ahmed Mohamed Shaker
Mohanned Ahmad Mohamed Ahmed Shaker        
Yousef Ahmad Mohamed Ahmed Shaker
Cyrus Parviz Ali Asghar Pourhomayoun
Mohammed Adel Mohammed Abdulaziz Alsulaiman   
Ali Mohammed Ghulam
Mohammad Abdulla Mohammad Hassan
Mohammad Hassan Rahma Ali Hassan
Abdulla Ahmad M. Bin Hammad Al Nuaimi
Mohammad Ali Saem Ali Al Alawi
Tariq Al Haddad
Walid Salem Mohamed
(Rory Binder - pending injury recovery)

Management Team:
Coach: Wayne Marsters
Physiotherapist: Chris Page