Fear of World Cup expulsion forced Samoa to scrap a boycott of Saturday's game against England, according to Census Johnston.
The Samoan players were considering strike action over a long-running dispute with the country's rugby union, which is chaired by prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele.
His response was to call the players "spoilt children", and the Samoa Rugby Union has so far declined offers of mediation from the International Rugby Board.
In the meantime, Johnson claims threats were made to the players over Samoa's place in next year's World Cup and New Zealand's scheduled tour of the country.
"Yeah, there's a lot been going on the last couple of weeks," said the Toulouse prop, who did not reveal the identities of those behind the threats.
"To be honest we're really focused on this week, for the people of Samoa, rugby's a huge part of the country. It's really important we put the country first before ourselves.
"We haven't spoken to all the boys about it but we have spoken to a lot of the senior players about it. And we've all just decided that we'll front up this week to make sure that we play well."
Johnston hopes rugby administration in Samoa can be improved in the future by retiring players returning home to get involved.
"There are a lot of guys that are coming into retirement now," he said. "They've come from a professional environment where they know how things need to be run. We're focused on getting those guys who are experienced and know how to treat a team.
"Hopefully players will go home when they retire, that's correct. The future of Samoa rugby is in our hands and that's what we're trying to do now, to make a move before the World Cup. We're trying to push this forward for the future of Samoa rugby."
Watch England take on Samoa this Saturday on Sky Sports 2 HD from 6.30pm