Samoan Rugby

The naming of the squad comes after a month of intense trials in Apia and includes a number of internationals.

The Rugby Union held three rounds of National Ten's play on November before trial squads were announced including Manu Samoa players like Oneone Faafou and Patrick Fa'apale.

This week a 25 man squad was announced and released on the Manu Samoa's official facebook page, before being removed.

When New Zealand kick off their Wellington Sevens campaign on January 28, a familiar face will be plotting their downfall from the opposition bench.

Gordon Tietjens, New Zealand's sevens coach of 23 years, takes over as head coach of the Samoan sevens programme from January 1.

His first mission on the rugby field will be a 1.41pm Pool C match against his former side at Wellington's Westpac Stadium.

Standing on the other side of halfway will be two of Tietjens' former players in Tomasi Cama and Scott Waldrom. For 14 minutes they will be anything but friends.

Sakaria Taulafo and Elia Elia start in the front row, with Taiasina Tuifua and Chris Vui the new locking combination.

It will be a just a second test appearance for Vui after the 23 year old made his debut against France.

"It's a lot quicker. You ask any international player - the quality of every player 1-15 on that pitch is top quality and everything is just a lot faster, you've got to think a lot quicker," he said.

The tournament will be staged at Suncorp Stadium on February 11 and 12, and will run for the next four years.

Samoa is the only international team involved, alongside all ten New Zealand and Australian Super Rugby teams, the Bulls from South Africa, Panasonic Wild Knights from Japan and French giants Toulon.

Samoa Rugby Union Chief Executive Officer Faleomavaega Vincent Fepuleai said they welcomed the opportunity to compete against some of the world's professional rugby clubs.