The Cook Islands Rugby Union has selected a 12-man rugby sevens squad, which includes four local based players, to represent the Cooks at the Oceania Sevens Qualifier.
The qualifying tournament will be hosted by Samoa and held on October 28 and 29.
The top three teams at the Samoan tournament will qualify for the 2012 rugby sevens circuit and in particular the Wellington leg and possibly the Hong Kong and Gold Coast tournaments.
The 10 teams taking part in this tournament will be Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, PNG, Niue, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Solomon Islands and the Cooks.
The Cook Islands squad members are Sailosi Nagi (Dragons), Duane Gukisuva (Eels), Eddie Nicholas (Reds), Matthew Titoa (Reds), New Zealand based players Ashley Drake, Tiakina Manga, Kairan Maihia, Shane Tumaihai-Fox and from Australia Koiatu Koiatu, Beau Mokotupu and Richard Connal.
The team coached by Ramsey Tomokino and managed by Brent Matchett will assemble in Auckland at the weekend before heading to Samoa for the qualifying tournament.