© Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images

Saturday will be a day of firsts in Stratford. For the Olympic Stadium, it will be exposed to rugby for the first time while for Samoa it will be an initial step on English soil to tee up what they hope will be an impressive Rugby World Cup campaign.

Samoa have now settled their off-field strife with the new collective agreement signed between union and players so for once, the world may get to see the beauty of the Islanders' play and passion without the distraction and tarnishing of political manoeuvring and ineptitude behind the scenes. Samoa deserve a fair crack at the World Cup with the focus purely on rugby.

The Barbarians are an ambiguous proposition. For every win like theirs over Ireland in May, there is the hammering they suffered in England three days later. They live an arbitrary existence. Their mission will be to maintain the famous invitational side's reputation of running and thrilling rugby. There will also be players hoping to send national coaches a timely reminder as the World Cup ticks ever closer.

Christian Leali'ifano fits that category. His heroics for Australia during the second Test of the 2013 British & Irish Lions series seem a long way ago now as Michael Cheika currently judges him not to be in the top 31 players in Australia. He starts at fly-half with fellow Wallabies Ben Tapuai, Luke Burgess, Benn Robinson, Saia Fainga'a and Liam Gill also in the starting XV.

They will be skippered by Bakkies Botha who will be playing one of the final games of his career. The body may be creaking a little more but the mind is still willing and he will want to impart his physicality on Samoa. Fellow Springboks Wynand Olivier and Pierre Spies also join him in the starting line-up.

Then there is the Baabaas' fullback and Samoa international Paul Williams. With 18 caps to his name, he is one of Samoa's more experienced players but is deemed persona non grata by the current coaching staff. It promises to be an emotional occasion for him, according to Baabaas' coach Jamie Joseph.

"I can only imagine it will be a special day for him to be facing the team he represented at a World Cup," said Joseph. "He's from a proud rugby family and it will be a big day I'm sure.

"There are a few boys who have heritage linking back to Samoa and the Islands, so that will be very special for those guys no doubt."

samoa© (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Samoa will keep a keen eye on him but will be focused on getting their own house in order with just one match against Wasps between them and their World Cup opener against the USA on September 20. Their summer programme has already seen them lose to New Zealand and finish second in the Pacific Nations Cup so they will still be working on combinations.

Come Saturday they are without Alesana Tuilagi, George Pisi, Joe Tekori, TJ Ioane and Alafoti Faosiliva but still boast a starting XV that includes players with Aviva Premiership and Top 14 experience.

"We are really looking forward to playing at the Olympic Stadium, getting combinations right and giving players some game time," Samoa coach Stephen Betham said in the Guardian. "The Barbarians won't make life easy for us. Their squad is packed with Australians and many of them, who haven't made it to the World Cup, will be looking prove a point. We will be treating it like a full-on Test match.

"We are looking to compete at the World Cup. In the past we have often been our own worst enemies. On the day we can beat any side in the world and on another day we can lose our focus. When we played the All Blacks recently we were nine out of 10. It is my job to make sure we don't go back to having off-days and scoring four out of 10. But we'll adapt to whatever we need to. We want to play free-flowing rugby but you need a good set piece and we've been working hard on that area."

Samoa: Tim Nanai-Williams, Faatoina Autagavaia, Paul Perez, Rey Lee Lo, Ken Pisi, Tusi Pisi, Kahn Fotuali'I; Zak Taulafo, Ole Avei, Anthony Perenise, Teofilo Paulo, Kane Thompson, Maurie Faasavalu, Jack Lam, Ofisa Treviranus (captain)

Replacements: Maatulimanu Leiataua, Viliamu Afatia, Jake Grey, Faifili Levave, Vavae Tuilagi, Vavao Afemai, Patrick Faapale, Johnny Leota

Barbarians: Paul Williams, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Ben Tapuai, Wynand Olivier, Dwayne Sweeney, Christian Leali'ifano, Luke Burgess; Benn Robinson, Saia Fainga'a, Carl Hayman, Bakkies Botha, Luke Jones, Adam Thomson, Liam Gill, Pierre Spies

Replacements: Tolu Latu, Joshua Hohneck, Maks van Dyk, Ali Williams, Jacques Potgieter, Nic Groom, Mike Harris, Tom English