Maur the merrier for Smith
Samoa-born forward Maurie Fa'asavalu is one of five uncapped players named in Great Britain coach Tony Smith's 25-man squad for the Gillette Fusion Test Series against New Zealand.
The 27-year-old Fa'asavalu played for Samoa in the 2003 rugby union World Cup but pledged his allegiance to Britain after qualifying through residency, having spent the last four seasons with St Helens.
He was surprisingly chosen ahead of Wigan's former Salford front rower Andy Coley and Bradford prop Andy Lynch but the Bulls provide two of the new faces in 18-year-old Sam Burgess, Super League's young player of the year, and 23-year-old full-back Michael Platt.
The other uncapped players are Warrington hooker Jon Clarke and Leeds second rower Jamie Jones-Buchanan.
All 25 players are drawn from the leading seven Super League clubs. Champions Leeds and runners-up St Helens each provide seven while Warrington and Bradford have the next best representation with three, Hull and Huddersfield provide two each and Wigan just one.
"I believe this is a very strong squad, which is a nice blend of youth and experience, who are ready to face what will be three very difficult games against Gary Kemble's New Zealand," said Smith.
"With the World Cup in Australia less than 12 months away, I thought it important to bring in some new faces. By giving them an opportunity to be part of the squad now and maybe feature in some of the games, I think we'll benefit from it greatly further down the line."
Smith will need to resolve injury and disciplinary worries before he can begin the preparations for the first Test at Huddersfield on Saturday.
He will check on the fitness of Leeds stand-off Danny McGuire and Hull centre Kirk Yeaman after both picked up injuries playing for the Northern Union in Saturday night's centenary international against the All Golds.
Yeaman aggravated an ankle sprain that sidelined him for a month in the Super League season in scoring his side's fourth try and limped off after an hour of the match at Warrington.
