The Bay of Plenty's Kelly Brazier has been named in the New Zealand Women's Sevens team to play in the opening tournament of the international HSBC Women's Sevens Series in Dubai next week.

Several players were unavailable through injury, with Charlotte Scanlan (shoulder), Kayla McAlister (foot), Stacey Waaka (shoulder), Lesley Ketu (ankle), Alexis Tapsell (neck) and Selica Winiata (back) all ruled out.

Kelly Brazier in training. Photo: File.

However, coach Sean Horan says the first team of the new season was young but he was happy with the line-up.

'We have a few injuries which have resulted in some changes, but going into Dubai we're really excited,” Sean says.

'We have the mainstay of Tyla, Kelly, Sarah and Portia and some up-and-coming players like Gayle Broughton and Hazel Tubic, who have been going exceptionally well and some new blood, so it's a great mix to take into the first tournament of the new season.”

There is one new cap in the side, with the selection of Sonny Bill Williams' sister Niall Williams. 'She's an amazing athlete – similar to her brother,” admits Sean. 'She's worked very hard over the last nine months to really make this happen.

'She's a very powerful and skilful player, coming from a touch background, so that's good. Physically she's tough, so we're excited.

'We're not expecting fireworks straight away, but she has real potential and we see a big future for her.”

While the team secured their third straight Women's Sevens Series title last season and qualified for the Olympics by winning three tournaments, they dipped out in the last two tournaments.

'We were happy, but got a bit ahead of ourselves. Other teams were hungry for it and we did drop off. Looking forward, we know Australia and Canada are big threats.

'USA and France did extremely well and we have the old foes of England and Fiji, so there's plenty of competition out there.

'We're excited about that and we'll embrace the challenge.

'We have a strong foundation, but we will have to work and experiment.

'We want to win the World Series and we're confident in our plans and processes.”

The team is: