A HEREFORD woman has been making her mark with the Arabian Gulf International rugby team.

Kellyann Davey secured a runners-up medal in the Bowl final at the Hong Kong Sevens.

The former Aylestone School pupil has also played in front of 50,000 people at the Dubai Sevens.

Davey, 28, has enjoyed an action-packed nine months since moving to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The Hereford-born player made her Arabian Gulf International women’s team bow at the Hong Kong Sevens.

“We had a hard pool to play against which included the World Champions, Australia,” said Davey whose parents, Mark and Colleen Davey, live at Bishopstone.

“We made it to the Bowl final which unfortunately we lost 14-12 against Papua New Guinea.

“It was an amazing experience and I learnt a lot about myself and what I need to do for rugby in the future.”

Davey first became interested in rugby when she was training to be a teacher at De Montfort University Bedford.

“I had no previous experience of rugby before I started at Olney Rugby Club. I started playing on the wing and then I moved to full-back,” she said.

“I became captain at Olney in my last season before I moved to Abu Dhabi.”

She achieved three successive promotions with Olney and won the National Cup. She also gained selection for the Thames Valley Regional Team.

Davey moved to the United Arab Emirates last summer to work as a PE teacher in a British private school, Al Yasmina.

She joined the Abu Dhabi Harlequins Ladies’ Sevens’ team which is twinned with the Harlequins in London.

“Every three weeks we have tournaments across the UAE and our clubs fly us to Doha in Qatar and Kuwait,” said Davey.

“We played in front of 50,000 people on the main pitch at the Dubai Sevens. It was amazing, especially as we won.

Over the season, Abu Dhabi Harlequins Ladies have won four tournaments, secured second place in two and third place in another. They also won the league title.

Davey is now training hard for the Asian Championships, Munich Sevens and this year’s Dubai Sevens.