Samoa coach Damian McGrath says the introduction of Test players to the sevens arena has increased the gap between “the haves and have nots” of world rugby.

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A number of global superstars have signed up for the limited-player discipline in recent months in preparation for the sport’s Olympic bow at the Rio 2016 Games.

All Blacks icon Sonny Bill Williams will be a non-playing guest at this weekend’s Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, while holders South Africa intend to select Rugby World Cup mainstays such as legendary winger Bryan Habana and centre Damian de Allende for future HSBC Sevens World Series events.

The Blitzboks are Samoa’s first Pool B opponents at The Sevens on Friday and McGrath was looking forward to pitting his wits against newly-called-up 15-aside caps such as Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard.

“We couldn’t have pulled a bigger team out,” said the Englishman after a training session at The Victoria International School of Sharjah (VISS). “They have named a strong squad, with several Springboks in their 12-man squad. “It is going to be a huge test for us with the first cab off the rank.

“But you have got to play them all at some stage this year and the players are very excited about it. “It is the haves and have nots. They [South Africa] are very lucky they can call on their big stars for the big competitions.

“Teams such as ours are very much homegrown. Saying that, it is a dream to play against players of their ilk.”

Samoa were Dubai champions three years ago. But the nation’s results have declined in recent years as they undergo a rebuilding programme, finishing 10th in the overall World Series standings for 2014-15 to miss out on automatic Olympic qualification.

They finished third in last month’s Oceania Sevens Championship, being thrashed 41-5 by fellow islanders Tonga in the semifinals.

“There was disappointment we didn’t reach the final,” McGrath said. “But Australia were always overwhelming favourites as they had a team with Super Rugby players. A further injection of youth to Manu Samoa has been provided by the introduction of youngsters Fetufou Setu Laga and Tofatuimoana Solia, players McGrath has tipped for the top

He said: “We’ve got a couple of new players, Fetufou and Tofatuimoana. These are two young boys from the island who in the next 12 months to two years will be household names in seven-a-side rugby.”