Nine Otago players have been included in the South Island squad for the regional women's tournament in Hamilton over Queen's Birthday weekend.
It will be the only chance for fringe players to break into the 26-strong Black Ferns World Cup squad to be named at the end of June.
The Black Ferns wider squad of 34 players will be in camp in Rotorua next week in preparation for the women's World Cup in England in August.
The camp is the first of two cup trials, with the second in the form of a regional competition comprising four teams and 96 players from the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes franchises and the South Island.
The regional tournament is important as it will give the selectors an opportunity to look at a larger group of players before naming the cup squad of 26.
The Otago players in the squad are Natahlia Darling (centre, wing), Carla Hohepa (wing), Kelly Brazier (fullback), Beth Mallard (hooker, prop), Rachel Ovens (hooker), Ngamamae Rapata (No 8), Janna Vaughan (fullback, second five-eighth), Rachel Scott (flanker), Nicky Crawford (No 8, lock), Rebecca Chittock (midfield).
Otago halfback Zoey Berry has been drafted into the Hurricanes team to get more game time because Black Fern incumbent Kendra Cocksedge (Canterbury) is in the South Island team.
Berry is in the wider Black Ferns squad.
The coach of the South Island team is John Kyle who has had wide experience of women's rugby as coach of the Otago team.
"It will be an intensive time getting players used to each other because we only assemble on the Thursday and have our first game the next day," he said yesterday.
"It will be a challenge, but other franchises also have teams from different provinces.
"We will only have time to learn lineout calls and practise a few moves."
It is a strong South Island team that incudes 11 current Black Ferns.
In addition to Otago's Brazier, Hohepa and Mallard there are eight Black Ferns from Canterbury.
They are Anika Tiplady, Kendra Cocksedge, Casey Robertson, Olivia Coady, Black Ferns captain Melissa Ruscoe, Kimberley Smith, Amanda Murphy, and Stephanie TeOhaere-Fox.
The Black Ferns will be out to make it four World Cup titles in a row at this year's event in England from August 20 to September 5.
They won the first cup in 1998 in Amsterdam and followed that with wins in Barcelona in 2002 and Edmonton in 2006.
The World Cup squad will be named in late June and the players will then assemble for a training camp in mid-July.
