While most of Team USA is looking forward to playing in front of friends and family in Las Vegas next weekend, Shalom Suniula has his homecoming this week in Wellington.

Suniula was born in American Samoa but grew up in New Zealand. His family is based in Auckland, but he'll get some motherly love in Wellington.

“This is the leg everyone looks forward to playing in front of their family, because that’s what they play for,” said Suniula.

“I’m looking forward to seeing my mom [and family]. They’ll fly down or drive down, one or the other, but I’ll just be happy to see her down there.”

As he said in his premier column, Shalom is also excited for Las Vegas, where he’ll get to catch up with his friends, club-mates and family based Stateside.

“As players, there's nothing better than playing in front of loved ones and our warm, welcoming home crowd,” Suniula wrote. “It just gives you that extra edge that's needed when it really counts out on the pitch.”