Why hasn't Lima Sopoaga caught fire in his first season with Wasps?
Big signings always bring big expectations, however unrealistic they can be.
For newly minted Wasps flyhalf Lima Sopoaga, the adjustment into the English Premiership directly after playing a Super Rugby season has been a challenge for the All Black, however, there are growing signs that Sopoaga’s class will translate to Premiership Rugby.
Unfortunately for Sopoaga, he has been caught in the middle of a club in transition, losing key players to rival clubs, rep duties, and a roster-destroying injury crisis.
The most crucial missing cog for Wasps has arguably been the man he replaced, Danny Cipriani, who has been the form flyhalf in the Premiership in recent years.
This has become crystal clear in hindsight, with many of the plays Wasps successfully using last year being rolled out at Gloucester. When Cipriani left he took the playbook with him, one that meshes so well with his own unique skill set it seems it cannot be replicated to the exact specifications.
Cipriani’s direction in attack gave the Wasps runners cohesion as a conductor does with an orchestra. Installing a new conductor has thrown off everyone’s tune, and with a host of frontline starters missing in action, it is no surprise Wasps have struggled.
With Jimmy Gopperth (ACL) and Dan Robson (ankle) suffering injuries, combined with the recent absence of Juan De Jongh (non-selection) and Christian Wade (NFL pursuit), the back line is unrecognizable to the well-oiled machine that performed perfectly orchestrated plays last season.
Valuable role players that provided a spark last year like the experienced Gaby Lovobalavu and Marcus Watson have been after-thoughts, rarely seen at all, while Kyle Eastmond was let go leaving Championship-recruit Michael Bourgeois as the backup to Gopperth.
The lethal connection Cipriani built with star fullback recruit Willie le Roux, who missed the first five games with Springbok duties, has not materialised yet with Sopoaga.
Since returning from international duty, Le Roux has been starved of quality space on the outside this year, instead playing a second receiver role further in-field more often.
His assist tallies have dried up without being able to ball-play on the edge with overlaps created by inside lead-up work, which was usually done by Cipriani. This has caused visible frustration for himself and England flyer Elliot Daly.
These are all important factors in judging Sopoaga’s impact – no player can do it alone. The whole has to be greater than the sum of the parts, which hasn’t been the case.
Wasps need to rebuild a system around Sopoaga’s own skills as a ball-playing artist, which is going to take time. The disruption to the pieces around him this season has only lengthened the time that will take to start gelling.
Sopoaga’s own never-ending season is not helping – from pre-season training in December 2017 with the Highlanders he will play non-stop with Wasps until May 2019, without a break and without the improved sharpness off-season conditioning brings.
This may partly explain why his running game hasn’t been as potent in the Premiership – there has been a noticeable drop off in his ability to shed tackles even in the same calendar year.
During Super Rugby in 2018, he beat a defender every 2.7 runs, with Wasps this rate has dropped to one every 6.8 attempts. His line break rate has gone from one in every 14.5 runs to one in 25.
Whether this is a sign Sopoaga is hitting the inevitable downward trend in his athleticism is yet to be determined, a full off-season break and pre-season training schedule may see a rejuvenated player next season, but he still promises longevity as a flyhalf due to his ball-playing ability.
In his last season with the Highlanders, he lodged 21 line break assists despite his running game slowing.
The attack with Cipriani at the helm was all about the ability to strike from set-piece plays, and Wasps need to re-discover this identity with Sopoaga. Too much of the attack so far has been funneled into the midfield, resulting in carries for centres Michele Campagnaro and Michael Le Bourgeois in search of second and third phase strikes, which often don’t eventuate due to slow ball.
Campagnaro and Le Bourgeoise are handy players but should fill secondary roles to the likes of Sopoaga, Le Roux and Daly when the set-piece platform presents.
The collective strike power of those three alone can conjure up tries from anywhere, as illustrated against Toulouse in the return leg when a simple ‘ID’ screen to Daly, playing centre at the time, resulted in an 80-metre try to Willie le Roux after Daly burned his opposite on the outside.
There are signs that Wasps are starting to lean more towards a ‘sweep’ attack similar to way Cipriani was used last year. At Twickenham against Harlequins they used this ‘halfback slingshot’ play twice to get Sopoaga wider ball with halfback Dan Robson back in the starting line up.
From a 5-man lineout Wasps set a three-man pod at first receiver with Thomas Young (7) in the middle flanked by Le Bourgeoise (12) and Ben Harris (1).
Robson (9) runs a wrap around receiving the ball back from Youngs on the run.
Harlequins interior defence has squeezed down hard on the pod, while Danny Care who was in pursuit of Robson, now has his path roadblocked to his opposite number.
Robson gets to the first defender outside the pod and draws contact while Nizaam Carr (8) runs a hard line giving him a short option, however, Robson delivers out the back.
Harlequins midfielder Francis Saili bites in to cover Carr leaving Joe Marchant as the last defender in the Harlequins front line.
The ball goes out the back to a wider Sopoaga, who has the blind winger Josh Bassett (14) with him and on the inside and his centre Campagnaro on his outside.
Sopoaga trusts his inside winger will be running off his hip and in the low tackle of Marchant, he gets away a ridiculous contortionist-offload to free Bassett.
Bassett streaks away with an opportunity to link outside with Le Roux and Daly for what would be almost a walk-in given their international calibre.
With Harlequins fullback Mike Brown using a bail technique to buy time, Bassett should veer that way before linking with le Roux.
Instead he tries an in-and-away on the covering defender without looking at his outside options where le Roux is screaming for the ball in unison with Daly.
Bassett is tackled inside the 22 and a few phases later Wasps are turned over and Harlequins are able to clear, receiving no reward for some smart play by Robson and Sopoaga.
In the second half they try to use the same play again, but this time without Robson it falls apart.
Reserve halfback Craig Hampson (21) does a great job on the loop around to get on the outside.
With Harlequins outside centre Joe Marchant (13) pushing down outside-in, Sopoaga is skilled enough to try and take a pass under pressure and release his outside.
With Marchant jamming in, it gives Wasps a huge opportunity to isolate Earle (14). However, Hampson decides to try and hit Carr short using a head fake instead.
Francis Saili has eyes for the ball and the loose pass is tipped, falls to ground and the opportunity is lost.
The return of first choice halfback Dan Robson will give Sopoaga’s play a boost. As illustrated on this play design, Robson’s running game can be integrated to allow Sopoaga to attack the wider channels on sweep lines, which will in turn hopefully open up more opportunities for le Roux to do what he does best.
Wasps won’t be ultra competitive in Europe this year having already slumped to the bottom of their pool, but in a tighter Premiership race with more parity, an improved set-piece attack can make a difference. The 20-13 loss to Harlequins was decided by seven points, and on the first slingshot play, Wasps blew a near certain try.
With big money tied up in Sopoaga, Wasps have to trust him to make the big plays and call for more opportunities for him to do so. Until they get their starting pack back with names like Nathan Hughes, Joe Launchbury and Tommy Taylor, a higher percentage of first phase strikes using the star recruits in the backline is a good place to start.
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Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments