Manu Samoa

"International test matches are a rarity in this professional era, so our fans would relish every opportunity to observe your very unique style of play," he said.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa recalled the last time the two teams clashed where Samoa succumbed to a much stronger Georgian

"Your team’s continued climb up the world rankings is by no means a fluke, ahead of Samoa, and rightly deserved. I have been told that your team has lost only three tier 1A matches in the last decade, which makes our clash this weekend much anticipated," he said.

RNZI reports the 41 year old is a former All Black teammate of Samoa head coach Alama Ieremia.

Former Samoa lock Kane Thompson, who represented the Manu at the past three World Cups, has also joined the coaching team as a technical advisor, while Hurricanes technical advisor Richard Watt has been appointed forwards coach.

Grant Henson works as the set piece coach at Counties Manukau and will fill the same role for Samoa, while David Edgar has been appointed as strength and conditioning coach.

"I’m really glad I got all the guys that were available to come and join us. There are a few others that will come by later on but their leagues are still running so they won’t be able to join us yet," said Ieremia.

The new head coach's main focus is rebuilding the Manu Samoa and letting go of the memories of last year's performance in the World Cup.

One notable aspect of his rebuilding efforts is the inclusion of two young names in the training squad.

RNZI reports the Manu recorded their best finish of the season, beating the United States 31-19 to take out the Plate title.

It is just the second time in six tournaments Samoa qualified for the Cup quarter finals, amid a horror run of injury and illness.

The bulk of the Samoan team will be locally-based players, as well as some from Australia and New Zealand.

The match on February the 18th will be Namulauulu's first in charge since being appointed Samoa's Director of Coaching last month.

It will be the first time that the Melbourne Rebels have played Samoa whose reputation for fast paced intensity will be the perfect preparation for the 2016 Super Rugby Season.

Melbourne Rebels foundation player Laurie Weeks is looking forward to the clash.

The Melbourne Rebels will prepare for the upcoming Super Rugby season with a trial match against Samoa.

It will be the first time the Rebels face world No.15-ranked Samoa, who pushed quarter-finalists Scotland to the brink during their Rugby World Cup pool game in October which finished 36-33.

Since missionaries first introduced the concept in the late 1800s, the game exploded in popularity and Polynesians in particular became obsessed with rugby as a pastime. Not just on the biggest islands of Tonga, Samoa or Fiji either; look through World Rugby's 100 top-seeded nations and you will see the likes of the Cook Islands, American Samoa, the Solomon's, Vanuatu, even Niue -- with its population of under 2,000 -- are present.

The former Samoa and All Blacks midfielder was confirmed in the role at an SRU Board meeting last night, replacing Stephen Betham, who resigned after a disappointing World Cup campaign.

The 45 year old says it's important to learn lessons from the Manu's World Cup campaign and his immediate attention will be on restoring pride in the team.

An independent panel chaired by former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie, has narrowed the list of contenders down to three, and none are from Samoa.

Vincent Fepuleai, chief executive of the Samoa Rugby Union, says Mourie was chosen to head the selection panel over a Samoan because World Rugby will be paying for the new coach, whose identity will be revealed before the end of the year.