A Dubai-raised rugby player is targeting an international career with England after training with the Red Roses ahead of the Women’s Six Nations.
Carmela Morrall, 20, first learnt rugby when she went along to training with her older brother at Dubai Hurricanes aged five.
She now plays for Loughborough Lightning in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), the top division of the game in England.
Having previously played for England at Under 20 level, the former JESS schoolgirl was called up to the full squad for a training camp last month.
She says the experience made it feel as though the dream she has held since she was a child living in Dubai is now within touching distance of being achieved.
“I was really happy that they called me in as it was a reminder that you really could actually do this,” Morrall said of training with England.
“It has always been in my head that it is something I want to do, but has never been put into reality. The fact I managed to go into camp has made me want it even more.
“I was part of the environment, thought I trained really well with them, and it made me feel I could actually be there because I felt like I fitted in.
“It has made me even more motivated to try to make into that squad as a permanent fixture.”
The training camp meant mixing with some of the biggest stars of the women’s game, which she initially found daunting.
“It was quite scary going in, but it they were all so welcoming, so it was quite easy to settle in,” Morrall said.
“I didn’t feel out of place in my ability, so that made me feel more at ease. They were all so lovely; anything you needed they would help out.
“They talk about being ‘For the girls’, whether that be them as a team, or for the past players, or for those coming through. They do as much as possible to help us younger players to get to where they are.”
Morrall, who was born in Hong Kong, said she was encouraged by the one-to-one meeting she had with John Mitchell, England’s head coach, at the camp.
“He said he had been impressed with me, and that if I had played more Prem rugby this year, there might have been the potential for me to be in that camp more as a permanent fixture,” she said.
“He told me to think of Six Nations 2026 and try to push for that, and if I keep going the way I am they would be looking at me in the future. To hear that from the head coach is really special.”
Morrall first started out in the sport Dubai Hurricanes’ junior section was still in its infancy, training at a field in The Lakes in Dubai.
“My brother [Connor] and I were pretty competitive growing up,” Morrall said. “As soon as he started playing, me and my dad would pass a ball on the side of the pitch, and I pretty much instantly fell in love with it and wanted to do it myself.
“Very quickly you realise how much of a team sport it is, especially the women’s side. You make friends straight away and everyone has a place in rugby.
“It is not a sport where you have to fit a certain build. If you are good at your job, and there are so many different jobs on the pitch, you can play rugby.”
She captained UAE at U19 level, and won a Pitch 1 final at Dubai Sevens with Dubai Falcons – the side now known as Dubai Phoenix – while still just 17.
She opted to move to the UK to further her rugby career, and now studies at Loughborough University, where she also coaches the sport.
“I wanted to push myself even further to see how far I could take it,” she said of the switch to England.
“The turning point was my last two years in Dubai where I felt like I was cruising, and that I needed to step out and push myself a little bit further.”
That Pitch 1 final at The Sevens in 2021, in front of packed stands, has stood her in good stead while playing in front of large crowds in the PWR.
That included winning in front of a sold-out stadium against a Bristol side that included Ilona Maher, the USA superstar, earlier this season.
“To me, it didn’t feel any different to playing any other game,” Morrall said.
“We get quite big crowds at many of the games we play, but it was still amazing to be on the pitch with some incredible players. Sometimes I still think it is wild I am there, playing in front of these people.
“It was cool being on the pitch with [Maher] given how much she has done for women’s rugby.”
Morrall’s success is the latest landmark for the junior female game in the UAE. A number of players have made their mark in leading rugby nations, having first been introduced to the sport on the fields of the Emirates.
It is possible Morrall could line up against Catherine Richards in the Six Nations in future. Richards attended the British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi and played for Abu Dhabi Harlequins before moving to the UK to finish schooling.
Since then she, too, has played Premiership rugby, and was called up to the Wales squad for last year’s Six Nations. Now she is also part of the Great Britain squad on the Sevens world series.
Seren Gough-Walters, who was born in Dubai and raised in Sharjah, has played for Wales in rugby league.
Sophie Shams, who used to juggle rugby with ballet and oboe lessons while at school in Dubai, is another Premiership player who has represented England at Sevens.
Erin King, who, like Morrall, first tried rugby as a young child when she went along to Dubai Hurricanes training with her brother, was named World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year at the end of 2024 for her excellence with Ireland.
As well as those achievements at the elite level, the country has started to make a mark in the grassroots game, too.
JESS Ranches, the school which Morrall attended, became the first international side to claim a title at the Rosslyn Park Sevens, the UK’s most prestigious schools rugby event, last year.
They doubled their achievement by retaining the trophy – again, at U14 level – at the same event last month.
