Toa Samoa

Tonga have been celebrated for a revolutionary rise on the way to a number of historic victories over tier one nations, since a number of stars switched their allegiance to reach new heights at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

Penrith Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai, who will play in this weekend's NRL grand final, recently reaffirmed his commitment to Toa Samoa.

Puletua said he'd love to see more big names boost the Pacific nations.

The former prop is in police custody facing four charges including one count of attempted murder, and two of grievous bodily harm and one of armed with a dangerous weapon.

Palu appeared today via video link from Tanumalala prison for the first mention of his case which has been adjourned until Monday.

He was arrested over a week ago after he allegedly attacked two men with a machete at the Savalalo fish market.

He has not entered a plea but remains in custody.

The 30-year-old second rower captains Toulouse Olympique in the second-tier RFL Championship and has been based in the south-west of France since 2016.

Toulouse made a perfect start to the 2020 season with Mika leading the team, which includes fellow Toa Samoa alumni Frank Winterstein and Harrison Hansen, to five straight wins and top spot in the competition standings before the season was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were signs of disaster from the first touch for Samoa, with a knock-on giving Fiji the advantage just 20 metres from their line.

Capitalising on the early opportunity and with a wrap-around pass from Kane Evans, hooker Joe Lovodua found the ball in his hands to storm under the posts and put first points on the board for the Bati.

The conversion was successful to give them an early 6-0 lead.

Fiji will take on Samoa in the first match up of the day, before the Kiwis meet the touring Great Britain Lions as both sides look to recover from significant losses last week.

The third test of the night will see a resurgent Tonga Invitational XIII face off against the world champion Australia.

The Kau To'a say they are ready to take on the Kangaroos with both sides delivering impressive performances last weekend.

Tonga produced a massive defensive effort to beat Great Britain for the first time while Australia convincingly beat New Zealand.

Fiji have included a handful of NRL players in their 18-man squad to face Samoa – headlined by Panthers wrecking ball Viliame Kikau and Storm flyer Suliasi Vunivalu – but they are missing a number of frontline stars who took part in the mid-year victory over Lebanon.

Toovey didn't go into detail about the changes he thinks Fiji will make but he said it appeared Bati team management were keeping a couple of secrets up their sleeve.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case," Toovey told NRL.com.

Both squads feature plenty of names who were in action in the recent World Cup 9s – a weekend that will be more fondly remembered by semi-finalists Samoa than a Bati side that surprisingly lost every game to finish last in its pool.

Being a one-off Test, both teams are playing for pride in the jersey but of arguably more value to both teams is simply the chance to get the groups together given how infrequently these chances come along in a packed schedule.

Toa Samoa are in Pool C with Fiji, Tonga and Cook Islands.

The men’s category have 3 pools. All the Pacific Island teams with the exception of PNG are in Pool C. Pool A will be competitive with Australia, NZ, PNG and USA. England headline Pool B which includes France, Lebanon and Wales.

The women’s category has 1 pool made up of Australia, England , NZ and PNG.

Toa Samoa is fielding an experienced squad for the modified version of the game with all 16 named being contracted NRL players.

The Fiji Bati bounced back from last year's loss to Papua New Guinea by thumping the Lebanon Cedars 58-14 at Leichardt Oval.

Little known halfback Brandon Wakeham contributed 20 points for the Fijians with eight conversions and a try to his name, as well as having a hand in a couple of other scores.

Rookie Parramatta winger Maika Sivo continued his good year with a double while fellow flyer Suliasi Vunivalu also crossed twice.

Jayson Bukuya led the Bati on defence with 29 tackles.

It makes for an interesting match-up in the 2019 Ox & Palm Pacific Test Invitational between two nations with not a lot of playing history against each other.

Different styles and different strengths mean on-paper analysis leads to a few possibilities in the outcome.

Will Samoa, boosted by the return of Martin Taupau, power straight through the middle? Or can the more nimble PNG playmakers use speed and skill to stand-up the Samoans?

The Rundown

Key match-up