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Why Lima Sopoaga left New Zealand and forfeited the chance to play at a Rugby World Cup
It was 2017 when All Black Lima Sopoaga was initially approached by Wasps to join their set-up in England. It created a massive crossroads in the then 26-year-old’s career – should he forge ahead and try to earn a spot in the 2019 World Cup squad, achieving the ultimate dream of many a young New Zealand rugby player, or take the money and begin a new journey on foreign shores? You have to wind the clock back to understand how Sopoaga reached his ultimate decision.
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It wasn’t the first time that the Wellington-born first five had received offers from overseas. Sopoaga had considered a move as early as 2013 when he was only a few years into his professional rugby career. The Highlanders had just completed their year from hell, finishing 14th on the competition ladder despite having brought in a number of experienced operators to complement their young talent.
“I’d actually been given an offer in Japan and I was about to take it,” Sopoaga told RugbyPass. “I learned that I didn’t even have to be an All Black to make good money. In 2013, we had the disaster in Dunedin. The rock stars came in and we still did ****. I was like ‘stuff that, I’m going to go’.”
But Sopoaga didn’t take the offer, instead choosing to stay in Dunedin and push harder. “I had some pretty honest conversations with a lot of people – one of them was Nasi Manu,” said Sopoaga. “We sat down and I remember he said: ‘You’ll know when your time is to leave.’ He believed that the best was yet to come for me and that I should keep at it and not to tap out when I was about to. That was essentially what had happened – we just decided to stay and I just gave it everything.”
It’s fair to say the decision paid off for the Highlanders pivot – less than two years later, the Highlanders were crowned Super Rugby champions and Sopoaga, who was the competition’s top scorer, received his first call-up to the All Blacks. Those two significant achievements make it one of Sopoaga’s most memorable seasons. “I had the best time ever, not only on the field but off the field,” said Sopoaga. “I achieved my dream and did something with some people that are pretty special to me.”
Sopoaga’s first game for New Zealand came at first five against South Africa in Johannesburg with The Rugby Championship still on the line. As far as debuts go, they simply don’t come any tougher. Sopoaga took it all in his stride and did everything that was asked of him on the day, with the All Blacks emerging 27-20 victors. Then everything came crashing down. “It was like a fairy tale,” Sopoaga said. “It was like a fairy tale – but without the happy ending.”
Despite his exceptional performances for both the Highlanders and the All Blacks, Sopoaga was surplus requirements for the 2015 World Cup later that year. Instead, Steve Hansen opted to take Dan Carter, Colin Slade and Beauden Barrett to England. After playing his guts out and showing that he was one of the best playmakers in the country, Sopoaga was still left wanting.
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“Obviously, people can say ‘if you play good enough, then you’re going to get picked’,” Sopoaga said. “But sometimes when you go to World Cups, it’s not just about how good you are but it’s also about the balance of the team. You can only take 31 guys and you may not necessarily take three specialist tens, you may only take two.”
It’s that rejection that played a major role in Sopoaga choosing to head offshore in 2018. “There was an opportunity here (in England) and it probably just came down to looking at some of the options for the All Blacks for 2019,” Sopoaga said. The No10 spot was well contested at the time and Sopoaga was just one option of many with two years still to play before the World Cup.
“When you’ve got someone like Damian McKenzie, you’ve got Richie (Mo’unga), you’ve got Beaudie (Barrett), Jodie Barrett is an option… not that I didn’t back myself, but I’d already gone through the heartbreak of missing 2015 and everything I went through that year, having to pull myself out of the gutter.”
There was also the issue that Sopoaga, despite being a superb flyhalf, wasn’t practised at covering any other positions. Contrast that to the Barrett brothers and McKenzie, who are all equally as capable at fullback as they are in the first-receiver role. “It was basically just a straight shoot-out between me and Richie,” said Sopoaga.
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“So a lot of those things I thought about and I didn’t know if I was prepared to go through the heartbreak of missing out on selection or staying and missing out through injury a la someone like Damian McKenzie, who ended up sitting out through doing his ACL.”
It was these factors that ultimately led to Sopoaga making the call to sign overseas and head to England in 2018 instead of holding out and hoping to do the same with the All Blacks for the World Cup a year later. “The selection for a Rugby World Cup is never really yours,” Sopoaga said.
Sometimes old school just can't understand new school?https://t.co/HeCGH4LyDk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 27, 2020
“I’d already gone through that heartbreak. I’d just had my first daughter and Wasps put in a great offer. Having someone else decide my fate just wasn’t something I wanted to go through again. So I decided to take the future into my own hands and let what will be, be.”
It’s a decision that the now-Wasps pivot has never regretted, despite some tough times in England. “I had a great time playing this game in NZ – and I’m still having a great time. I’m still having experiences that I wouldn’t have had if I’d stayed in New Zealand. It’s not too bad, whichever way you flip the coin.”
Ultimately, Hansen took Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga as his two first fives – although the former never started a game at flyhalf, instead being utilised exclusively at fullback. Meanwhile, Jordie Barrett had a crack in the 10 jersey against Namibia. That doesn’t faze the now 29-year-old Sopoaga. “This is a decision that I made and I put it to bed a long time ago and I’m just happy for those guys that are still there,” he said.
“If someone said I was going to play 20 odd times for the All Blacks and travel around the world, make a debut in South Africa and kill it then, as a kid, I would have taken that with two hands and said thank you very much. I’ve been able to achieve a dream that so many kids around the world would love to achieve. I’m happy with what I’ve done and I was glad to leave it at that, move on and try something else.”
Comments on RugbyPass
You probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to comments