When it comes to battling against the odds, no one faces bigger odds and no one battles them better than the warriors of Manu Samoa, who are amongst the least financially rewarded, which in turn means no one is more proud. They are, maintains their coach John Boe, quite simply "the most difficult Test side in the world to select".
By his estimation, this week's 26-man squad is shorn of about 10 players due both to injuries and, more pressingly, to an inability to extricate themselves from contractual obligations around the globe (livelihoods holding sway given the penurious Samoan union cannot offer contracts).
The squad comprises club players in the main, and many are newcomers to this level. By necessity, this has become a development tour of sorts.
The squad is drawn from six countries: New Zealand (18), Samoa itself (two), Wales (two), England (two), France (one) and Italy (one). It would have been more but for the unavailability of their players based in Japan. The entire front row and six of the pack that did duty in the Epson (Pacific Rim) Cup final are absent. Boe says four props, two hookers and three locks have been ruled out.
Aside from the sheer logistics of bringing a Samoan squad together from six countries or more, then actually obtaining a game (an achievement in itself), there's also the minor problem of getting around to monitor them individually.
Although there is an International Board ruling which, like football, demands that players be released from their clubs or provinces for international games, it's rarely enforced. According to Boe and his assistant, the brilliant former All Black flanker Michael Jones, this dovetails with the equally damaging occurrences of Samoa-qualified players being ruled ineligible after appearing for the New Zealand A or New Zealand Sevens sides.
Sometimes they have appeared only once, and so a raft of fine players such Orene Ai'i, Mils Muliana, Chris Masoe, Johnny Leo'o, Kevin Senio and Tafa Ioasa are barred from playing for Samoa, yet only Muliana is still regarded as a viable All Blacks' candidate. This, of course, suits New Zealand and Australia (who somehow get away with permitting only Australian-qualified players to play Super 12), yet both superpowers brazenly pillage the Pacific islands.
Accordingly, Samoa have struggled to maintain the big impact they made in reaching the quarter-finals of the 1991 and 1995 World Cup, and the wins they had in that decade over Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
"Let's keep in mind one thing," says Boe. "You look back at the wonderful games Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have given the world. It's a different style of play from what you normally see and it would be such a shame to lose that style of play. Money is part of it, but there is more which could be done for the islands."
It's worth pointing out that Boe is an employee of the New Zealand Rugby Union. Hence, he's reluctant to criticise his pay masters. For Jones, though, a scholarship manager at Auckland University, the role of assistant and forwards coach is "definitely a labour of love".
It is also a sense of duty he feels towards the country of his late mother, "and I was brought up very close to my Samoan heritages".
Indeed he played for them once as a 19-year-old against Wales in 1986.
"We slept in a Samoan family house, on mats, had porridge for breakfast and said our prayers first thing in the morning, so it was a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the basics of Samoan rugby."
Once annexed by Germany, then New Zealand, Samoa became an independent state in 1962. It's population of 170,000 and estimated 100,000 expatriates prompts Jones to remark that Samoa is known as The Irish of the Pacific.
"We have a lot of similar characteristics. We love our families, we've also got bad tempers," he laughs, "and we like to socialise."
An interview at Dublin Airport prior to their 9.30 a.m. departure for training was deferred as Jones was conducting extra lineout practice from 9.0 a.m. in the car park.
"As a coach I see my role as doing everything I can to facilitate these guys fulfilling their dreams and reaching their potential as young rugby players. I feel very privileged to be there."
New Zealand's treatment of Samoa and the islands disappoints him.
"New Zealand are very aggressive, they make no bones about it. There are a lot of Samoan boys growing up in New Zealand who want to play for the All Blacks, and we can't blame them for that.
"But it would be wonderful to see New Zealand show more sensitivity to the needs of Samoan rugby. I think it's overselling what they (New Zealand) can give them, and then not delivering, and then you've got guys in limbo for the rest of their careers.
" I think there needs to be more integrity in that and more recognition of the very unique needs of Samoan, Tongan and Fijian rugby."
Samoa are rarely granted Tests with the elite, and lack the funds to finance trips. Incredibly, neither the All Blacks, the Wallabies nor Springboks have been to Samoa.
"It would do so much for the people and for Samoan rugby if the All Blacks went there."
When a former All Black as famed as Michael Jones criticises the New Zealanders, they really should pay heed. But most probably they won't.
