Manu Samoa

Mapusua, the Samoa head coach, wants to ensure his country is included in the proposed schedule after Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan failed to mention them when putting forward the idea of Pacific Islands fixtures.

McLennan only name checked Fiji and Tonga despite Samoa having recently qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France by defeating Tonga in two matches.

Mapusua told RugbyPass: “I hope we haven’t done something to upset Rugby Australia because we would want to be involved in any fixtures for the Pacific Islands nations against the Lions.”

While the game will be played without fans it will still have a big impact on the players.

For some of the Māori players it might be the highest honour they achieve and it also gives them another chance to connect with their heritage.

And for Samoa it's a chance for the side to get together, something that doesn't happen often enough.

A win over the 2005 British and Irish Lions would go down as one of the Māori All Blacks most memorable victories in recent years, along with wins over Ireland and England.

But the cover up will only go so far, it has been revealed.

The Samoan players will wear skin suits after the team consulted a Japanese cultural expert.

Captain Jack Lam said: “We had someone coming in and giving us a heads-up about what we could expect in Japan.

“There’s a lot of similarities in our cultures but when it comes to the tattoos we have obviously got a lot of tattoos, it’s quite normal in our culture.

“But we are respectful and mindful to what the Japanese way is. We will be making sure that what we are showing will be OK.”

Just over a week after a knock from a team-mate damaged his eye, Samoa's Jack Lam has fully recovered his sight.

In his team's final warm-up match against Australia on 7 September, the Manu Samoa captain took a blow from Alapati Leiua during a tackle. He had to leave the field, fearing that his participation at a second World Cup could be in danger.

"I was seeing about 30 different Wallabies players at the time, so I was a bit of a liability to my team. I had to make a call and come off the field," Lam said.

The Australians defeated Manu Samoa 34-15 in Parramatta on Saturday, in the final test for both countries before departing to the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Samoa's Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, made the invitation to the Australian PM, Scott Morrison, during bilateral talks between the two leaders in Sydney over the weekend.

Australia wrapped up their pre-World Cup Test campaign with a 34-15 win over Samoa in Sydney on Saturday.

A good first-half display, which was rewarded with a 22-3 halftime lead, was offset by an unconvincing second-half performance, with Samoa scoring the first 12 points, before two late tries pushed the home side clear.

Cheika said the game had been a really good hit out for the Wallabies, who now have a 3-2 record this year.

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Adam Coleman and Marika Koroibete are the only three players to retain their starting spots from the side thrashed 36-0 by the All Blacks three weeks ago.

Flanker David Pocock will captain the Wallabies on his return from injury, with regular skipper Michael Hooper among those to miss the game as coach Michael Cheika takes a safety-first approach before Japan.

Fiji will play Tonga and Samoa face a New Zealand Heartland XV at Eden Park two years after the initial Pasifika Challenge saw Samoa take on New Zealand and Tonga play Wales at the same venue in 2017.

Ahead of this latest New Zealand celebration of Islands rugby, World Rugby has highlighted how it partnered with the three unions in a four-year high-performance support programme where direct and indirect support from the game’s governing global body is expected to reach £20 million from 2016-19.

A current member of the Pacific Players’ Association, Seilala Mapusua told TVNZ1’s Breakfast this morning the unlevel playing field faced by Tier Two nations is more dire than World Rugby acknowledges.

“Until we see some real change and movement from the north, it’s going to carry on being this way,” said Mapusua who was speaking after Fijian born Sevu Reece impressed for the All Blacks in their win over Australia.

The Steve Jackson-coached side is currently in 16th place behind Tonga who is currently in 15th.

Samoa recorded its best position back in 2013 when they were ranked 7th before dropping to 17th from last year.

The ‘Ikale Tahi’ Tongan rugby side on the other hand, recorded its best position back in 2011 finishing in top ten and placing in ninth place.

Fiji has currently dropped from eighth to tenth place in the rankings.

The Rugby World Cup will be held from 20 September to 2 November in Japan.