University of Queensland students will play alongside members of the Australian Women’s Sevens team in the 2019 Aon Uni 7s Series.

UQ has named a 24-player squad for the four-round competition, which runs from 14 September to 27 October.

Australian Sevens players Emma Sykes, Cassie Staples and Hagiga (Haj) Mosby will be available to play for Team UQ in two rounds of the series.

Australian Wallaroo representative Lori Cramer will captain UQ,  with Mackenzie Sadler and Holland international Jannicke Ijdens selected as vice-captains.

The squad also includes UQ students Terri-anne Egan, Katie Muscat, Jessee Santo, and Cassie Carberry.

Cramer said UQ’s team was full of enthusiasm and energy with the inclusion of some young faces.

“We are always looking to build and get better and improve,” Cramer said.

“We want to be competitive and we will be competitive.”

The squad consists of 23 UQ Rugby Football Club members, including Australian and Papua New Guinea Rugby League international Amelia Kuk.

Team UQ head coach Reg Tayler said the University was building for the future with the new squad members.

“We are really excited with the team we have,” Tayler said.

“They are a young squad and we are looking to see how they go during the series.

“We have had a really good preparation so we are all ready to go and looking forward to seeing how we can perform.”

The series, now in its third year, will feature ten teams with The University of Western Australia and University of Technology Sydney entering for the first time.

Tayler said UQ was aiming to go one better in 2019 after finishing runners up to Griffith University last season.

“Griffith are the favourites on paper and have been for the past two years.

“This year they have the most amount of Australian-contracted players and will be the benchmark.

“Our young players are looking forward to the challenge of playing them.”

UQ will have the home advantage at the opening event of the competition, which will be held at the UQ Sport Athletics Centre from 14-15 September.

All Uni 7s matches will be broadcast live via Rugby.com.au’s social media channels.

2019 Aon Uni 7s Series – Team UQ Squad

Amy Brice
Cassie Carberry (Bachelor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences)
Shenae Ciesiolka
Lori Cramer (captain)
Paige Edwards
Terri-anne Egan (Bachelor of Arts)
Jada Ferguson
Georgia Hannaway
Melita Hicks
Pleuni Kievit
Ashlee Knight
Amelia Kuk
Jannicke Ijdens (vice-captain)
Hagiga (Haj) Mosby
Katie Muscat (Bachelor of Physiotherapy – Honours)
Isabella Nasser
Mackenzie Sadler (vice-captain)
Jessee Santo (Bachelor of Arts)
Kaitlin Shave
Cassie Staples
Emma Sykes
Sidney Taylor
Makenzie Weale
Nat Wright

2019 Aon Uni 7s Series – Fixtures

Round 1 – The University of Queensland, Brisbane (14-15 September)
Round 2 – Bond University, Gold Coast (28-29 September)
Round 3 – The University of Adelaide, Adelaide (12-13 October)
Round 4 – University of Canberra, Canberra (26-27 October)

2019 Aon Uni 7s Series – Teams

The University of Queensland, QLD
Griffith University, QLD
Bond University, QLD
University of New England, NSW
University of Technology Sydney, NSW
The University of Sydney, NSW
The University of Melbourne, VIC
University of Canberra, ACT
The University of Adelaide, SA
The University of Western Australia, WA

Media: Jamie Mitchell, UQ Sport, JamieM@uqsport.com.au, 0423 785 752; Reg Tayler, UQ Rugby Football Club, regtayler@uqrugbyclub.com, 0407 302 911.