Touch selectors name squad for mini-games

The Cook Islands touch rugby selectors have settled on a final squad of 14 men and 14 women for the Pacific Mini Games. The squad is co-captained by Julieanne Westrupp and Mary Adams who both won a touch rugby gold and silver medal at the Apia Pacific Games in 2007.
Touch president Mark Brown said the final squad of 28 players that was selected from a wider squad of 69 players this week is a balance of players from both the Cook Islands and from overseas. Seven men and seven women are currently in New Zealand or Australia. Their selection has been based on regular assessments with Brown conducting the most recent one in New Zealand last week.
Touch Cook Islands is aiming to improve on their Apia 2007 result where the women won a gold medal, the mixed men and women won a silver medal, and the men finished fourth.
In the quest for gold medals, Brown said the touch programme called for hard intensity training over the next six weeks up the start of the games. The overseas squad members are expected to begin arriving within three weeks of the games until they are all in Rarotonga one week before the competition begins.
“They will have one week to gel together as a team. They have all have been given the same type of training, the same plays, the same moves so they shouldn’t take long to gel.”
While the final squad has been confirmed, Touch Cook Islands will be able to call on some players who missed the cut but are continuing to train with the squad and are on standby in case any player is injured. The importance of replacements was illustrated in the lead up to the 2007 Apia Pacific games when one girl ruptured her knee in training. “We were lucky that the backup players were still training and they slotted in just fine.”
Meanwhile the touch competition management officials will get together this weekend to nut out preparations for the games. The competition manager is Ronnie Siulepa who founded touch rugby in the Cook Islands (and in Auckland Central) “many, many years ago”.
Siulepa said his committee was wearing hometown pride and was aiming for the touch competition to be the best ever for the competing Pacific teams. Having fantastic facilities for touch rugby at the CIFA field in Matavera was great.
And Suilepa said it was a plus having a dynamic committee behind the competition including big boy Clem Fortes a former touch rugby star, Brian and Dot Conning who used to be heavily involved in touch rugby in Auckland and for New Zealand, Pare Tangata physiotherapist, and Mark Brown touch president.
The competition comprises three divisions: men, women, and mixed. Suilepa said touch is usually very tough at the Pacific Games between Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands. Samoa is the defending men’s champion from the last Pacific Games and will be very competitive while Fiji is sending a 31-member squad to field three teams to reclaim their mantle as top touch nation in the Pacific. Fiji touch president Inoke Veresa this week told Fiji live Sports, “We are really confident that we will win three gold medals.”
This year Niue can be counted on to provide stiff competition to all the teams. Tahiti is the new team appearing in the competition and is an unknown quantity.
The competition involves speed and stamina with teams required to play two games a day. Fitness plays a big part as the competition progresses. The competition is played over Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of the first week and Monday and Tuesday in the second week.
The Cook Islands squad comprises:
(Women) Julieanne Westrupp, Mary Adams, Edith Nicholas, Taromi Urirau, Tai**mings, Rheima Bishop, Daphne Hosking Brown, Sandra Tisam, Apii Nicholls, Beniamina Koiatu, Ani Hapeta, Poko Kamana, Vaine Ben and Rose Kauvai.
(Men) Geoffrey Halston, Conrad Piri, Andy Kapi, Andrew Mokoroa, Gordon Heather, Tariu Tairea, Apii Rau, Brian Adams, Jason Roi, Chairman Munokoa, Emile Kamana, Sam Toroma, Teava Terangi, and Teiva Tauira.