7s side named for Darwin tourney

One day of extensive fitness testing and two days of trials ended on Saturday for the 30 aspirants who are chasing the honour of representing the Cook Islands at the Oceania 7s championships to be held on Friday and Saturday, in Darwin Australia.

The trials, which created competitive play for the 12 positions, exposed some exciting prospects that give depth for the future. The selection panel of Ramsey Tomokino, Vase Samania and Damien Beddoes went through TV footage, fitness results and game scenarios, the injury list and strategies for the tournament in arriving at their decision.

The tournament, which includes seven other teams from Oceania, is to be held in hot and humid conditions in the Northern Territory and will be the final warm up for three teams that qualified last November to represent the Oceania region through the November championship held in 2009 in Tahiti.

The squad attended church at Avarua CICC yesterday.

The team of 12 players and four management departing on Tuesday are: Ashley Drake, Ben Enoka, Dexter Moroney, Teina Savage, Kairan Mahia, Adam Vardey (Capt), Nathan Robinson, Tepou Teanini, Jerome Manukete, Francis Takiari, Beau Mokotupu, Messine Manapori. Management: John Wichman, Ramsey Tomokino, LeeVan Santos, Keith Roberts.