The jury is out on the Islanders

After just one match - against the Wallabies at the Adelaide Oval last weekend - the jury is already out over the future of the Pacific Islanders - the combined team made up of players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

The pros and cons have all be weighed up - with the debate coming to a head before the Islanders meet the All Blacks, who have long been the target of reputed Island thievery, in a Test match in Albany on Saturday.

And while the tales of the All Blacks fielding a team based upon their theft of prodigious Island talent does not always ring true - it should prove to be a bruising encounter.

But Tana Umaga (of Samoan heritage) - who will captain the Kiwis on Saturday - believes the Pacific Islanders team should only form every five years, to prevent the team's unique attraction from being diluted.

"Maybe it should be something players strive for, like the Lions, that kind of mystique about it which comes every now and then.

"It's something that should be worked towards and it's a bonus for players," said Umaga.

Umaga does not believe the Islanders as a unit should play at the World Cup - a proposal made by former Wallaby World Cup winner John Eales - as it would detract from each indiviual island nation.

But Islanders skipper Inoke Afeaki - who has played representative rugby with Umaga since the age of 10, representing the Petone club and Wellington before moving to Japan - believes that as long as sponsors overlook the nations of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, the combined Islanders union is their only hope of pumping some money into the cash-strapped countries.

"If we don't get that cash injection from somewhere, we're left with this [the Islanders] as our fund-raising resource," said Afeaki.

"For the time being, (we need) the possibility of getting some big gate-takings from around the world by playing entertaining rugby and bringing the crowds through... the real issue is there is no cash in the islands and we're forever operating in debt.

"It is really dire. If Tonga, Samoa or Fiji were invited to more internationals, it wouldn't be an issue."

Afeaki added, "This is about taking the islands back to their rightful place, and the only way of doing that at the moment is through this team."