Tusi Pisi will make his third World Cup appearance at the age of 37, while prop Michael Alaalatoa will complete a compelling family story after both were named in Samoa's squad on Saturday.
If MacDonald is looking to make amends for in his bid to get the Blues back into the realm of Super Rugby title contenders, then these personnel changes within his squad could very well be the remedy he needs.
An Ed Fidow hat-trick helped Samoa take a giant stride towards Pool A at Rugby World Cup 2019 following a comfortable 66-15 first-leg play-off victory over Germany in Apia on Saturday - report World Rugby.
Former rugby league star Semi Radradra will make his rugby union test debut for Fiji against Georgia on Saturday.
An unruly Fiji survived three yellow cards and a strong Samoa fightback to win their opening Pacific Nations Cup match 24-22.