Such high expectations place a great deal of weight on the raw youngster's shoulders. That weight has suddenly increased ten-fold now Lemi finds himself among the squad's more experienced sevens campaigners.

The Samoans have been forced to ring the changes due to established squad members losing form or sustaining injury. Only Mark Tanuvasa and Uale Mai survive from the unit in Hong Kong 12 months ago

Regular goalkicker Mai will be hoping this sojourn to Asia will be more productive than the last, as he received a heavy suspension last year for his part in a brawl at the Singapore Sevens.

Despite being outplayed by Lemi in the Marist tournament final, Tanuvasa is an exceptional playmaker when in the mood. He will certainly be keen to make a point; having only made the squad as a late replacement for the injured Gaolo Elisara.

The loss of captain Elisara is a huge blow for the Pacific islanders, notwithstanding them having found a worthy understudy in Sailosi Tagicakibau. New Zealand-born, but with a Fijian father and a Samoan mother, Tagicakibau is eligible to represent three counties. Despite being awarded Fijian under-21 caps, he eventually plumped for Samoa.

A product of the same Auckland school as Jonah Lomu, Tagicakibau was a late withdrawal from the side who flew to Hong Kong last year, having decided instead to pursue a professional contract with the Counties-Manukau National Provincial Championship team in the land of his birth.

Tagicakibau duly earned a place in the line-up and went on to win plaudits with Manu Samoa at the World Cup. He has played little sevens of late, but obviously must enjoy the faith of the Samoan selectors, having been named skipper.

Hooker Jonathan Meredith is another of Samoa's World Cup heroes. Listed in the team selection under his Samoan family name of Faamatuai, he learnt his trade with Auckland's famous Ponsonby club.

Roger Warren can also point to Kiwi rugby experience and forced his way into Samoa's squad immediately after returning to Apia from the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Eneliko Faatau's taste of New Zealand rugby came in the form of outings with Marist St Pat's in Wellington. He did sufficiently well to be elevated to the Test arena and served Manu Samoa in 2002. A forward, he has had little sevens exposure though.

Alapasa Cordtz, in contrast, is a sevens specialist. He was thrown into the Hong Kong cauldron three years ago and, despite shining consistently in local fare, his appearances in the blue jersey have been sporadic.

Four Samoans will be making their international debuts in Hong Kong. No selection raised more eyebrows than that of Des Faaiuaso. Local soccer's most celebrated figure, Faaiuaso wore his country's blue jersey at the Oceania Olympic qualifying football tournament in Sydney in January. He had only a couple of domestic sevens competitions under his belt when he received the call from coach John Schuster. Among those amazed by the development was the Samoan soccer team coach, David Brand, who spent a season in Hong Kong and won a Viceroy Cup runners-up medal. He said: 'I only learnt of Des being chosen for the sevens team when I read it in the newspaper!'

Of the newcomers, Anzac Luteru is the most experienced, being a teammate of Tagicakibau at Counties-Manukau. But an awful lot is being asked of relative novices David Alo Pulou and Kiri Mariner. Pulou has been recruited from Auckland club rugby, while Mariner was plucked from the rugby backwater of Savaii island.

Widely regarded as the most gifted player ever produced by Samoa, Schuster won caps for his native land as a teenager prior to moving to New Zealand and making 26 appearances for the All Blacks. He then enjoyed a successful rugby league career in Australia (with Newcastle Knights) and England (Halifax).

Still learning the ropes as a coach, Schuster has retained Samoa's competitiveness up to now. They come to Hong Kong in good form, having only lost in extra time of the Los Angeles Sevens semi-final against eventual winners Argentina.