Rugby Union: Pirates' Toby Maslen and Brad Male to lace up the boots for Pacific Nomads at Coral Coast 7s

Quite the opposite rather. It will be fast and furious and a bit of a baptism of fire for the Pirates duo.

They fly out later this week to suit up for the Pacific Nomads at the Coral Coast 7s.

The tournament, which will be held from January 12-14, has been running since 2010.

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Introduced as a way of showcasing two of the country's greatest assets - 7s rugby and the Coral Coast - initially it was only for local village teams.

But over the years it has grown to incorporate teams from all over the world, and earn a reputation as one of, if not the, toughest amateur 7s competitions in the world.

It will be the first tournament the Nomads, a team made up of players from Fiji, the US and Australia, have played in and a first for Maslen and Male too. While they have played bits and pieces of 7s before, it hasn't been in a competition of this scale.

Both jumped at the opportunity when contacted by coach Paddy Bowen.

"It will definitely be a good opportunity, especially to go overseas and play some of their style of footy over there in Fiji, so looking forward to it," Male said.

It will be his first time overseas.

Maslen previously toured New Zealand with the NSW Country under-16s.

"It was an unreal experience versing some of those sides considering how dominant they (Kiwis) are when they get to that world level," he said.

"It was really good to experience that and going to Fiji and experiencing the side of footy that they are dominant in will be pretty cool."

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It will be for both the first time they have had the rugby ball in their hands since the end of the season with Pirates having not started pre-season training yet.

Maslen has at least played a bit of oztag but for Male it will be the first contact he has had since the preliminary final after breaking his hand and finger during the game.

The half-back recalled just being in a tackle and hearing "the big crack".

Hoping "it wasn't too bad" he didn't go to hospital initially. But the next day when he woke up to a purple and black hand he thought he'd "better get it checked out".

Good thing he did; he ended up having to have surgery.

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"I had a plate put in my hand and a little hook to keep my finger rotating properly," he said.

"I was out for about three months but back to full use now."

It won't all be about the footy experience. There will be some opportunities to soak up some of the culture.

"I was talking to Paddy and he said some of the Fijian boys in our side will take us back to their village and show us around and show us what they've grown up like and live like," Maslen said.

"So we get to learn a bit about their culture as well as having a bit of a holiday."

It is a busy time for the family with sister Erika in the process of moving down to Canberra to train with the Brumbies Super W side. She heads down on Wednesday to give her a few days to settle in before pre-season training resumes on January 9.

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