Lima Sopoaga

Sopoaga replaced Ryan Crotty off the bench in the 55th minute, covering inside centre for the rest of the test.

Lima Zachariah Sopoaga (born 3 February 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Japan Rugby League One club Shimizu Blue Sharks.

Born in New Zealand, he represents Samoa at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

Sopoaga was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

His family comes from Samoa and the Cook Islands.

Sopoaga is the oldest among six siblings.

His younger brother, Tupou Sopoaga, played for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL but switched codes and played alongside Lima at the Highlanders for a time.

In his high school days, Lima Sopoaga attended Wellington College and won four local championships with the 1st XV.

He captained the school's side in 2009 and was selected for the NZ Secondary Schools team.

At the age of 19, Sopoaga played for Wellington in the 2010 ITM Cup, making his debut against Manawatu.

His strong performances established himself as the squad's starting number 10.

He finished the season with 88 points in 9 appearances to help Wellington to reach the final of the competition, where he scored 21 points despite losing to Canterbury.

Sopoaga followed his former Wellington coach Jamie Joseph south, signing on with the Highlanders for the 2011 Super Rugby season.

Expected to back up Colin Slade, he ended up starting the opening game of the season against the Hurricanes due to Slade being injured.

He responded in fine fashion by scoring a try and kicking two penalties in a 14–9 victory.

However, in his second start of the season he suffered a shoulder injury which ruled him out of the team until the late stages of the season.

In late May 2014, Sopoaga announced that he will be joining the Southland Stags for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

The transfer from the Wellington Lions to the Stags keeps Sopoaga in Highlanders territory.

Playing for Southland, Lima joins another current Highlander in Elliot Dixon.

Sopoaga, excited by the move as reported by Rugby Southland; "The opportunity came up and it is a good fit to stay in the Highlander franchise and represent the region in the Super 15 and ITM Cup. I’m really starting to feel at home in the south now and proud to be part of the region. The Stags boys in the Highlanders have nothing but good things to say about the Stags and the Southland province and I’m looking forward to getting to Southland and giving my all for my new team."

In 2015 he helped guide the Highlanders to their first super rugby title by defeating the 1st place Hurricanes 21–14.

Sopoaga scored the most points of any Super Rugby player in 2015, scoring 191 points that season.

After an injury to Chiefs captain Aaron Cruden, Sopoaga's Super Rugby efforts in 2015 saw him gaining selection for New Zealand.

Sopoaga was named in the All Blacks' 41-man squad for the 2015 Rugby Championship, making his international debut against South Africa in Johannesburg on 25 July 2015, debuting alongside lock James Broadhurst.

Sopoaga started the match and was not subbed off, with replacement Beauden Barrett replacing Israel Dagg off the bench instead of Sopoaga who scored 12 points on debut, guiding the All Blacks to a 27–20 win.

Sopoaga narrowly missed out on selection for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with selectors preferring 100-plus test veteran Dan Carter and the versatility of Colin Slade and Barrett.

The Highlanders failed to make the finals in 2016, losing 42–30 against the Lions in the semi-final.

Sopoaga was one of the few Highlanders to shine in the 2016 semi-final, scoring a try and kicking accurately, ending his 2016 Super Rugby season with 186 points.

Sopoaga was re-selected for the All Blacks in the Steinlager series against Wales in 2016.

After Cruden was injured again, Sopoaga made his second test appearance in the third test against Wales on 25 June 2016 which was a 46–6 win at Sopoaga'a home crowd in Dunedin.

Sopoaga made four more appearances in the black jersey in 2016, scoring 10 points that year.

Sopoaga was pulled from the field in a 16–12 win over the Blues on 11 March 2017 after suffering a hamstring injury when he performed a try-saving tackle on All Blacks team-mate and Blues midfielder George Moala.

Sopoaga made his return from injury to replace Marty Banks off the bench in a 55–6 win over the Western Force on 20 May 2017.

The departing Banks scored more points in the 2017 Super Rugby season than Sopoaga due to Sopoaga spending two months out injured.

Sopoaga scored 54 points in the 2017 season, failing to score any in the quarter-final against the Crusaders where the Highlanders lost 17–0.

Sopoaga started for the Highlanders against the touring British and Irish Lions side on 13 June 2017, contributing eight points to the Highlanders' narrow 23–22 win over the Lions before being replaced by Banks in the 54th minute.

On 15 January 2018, Sopoaga confirmed to be leaving the Highlanders and New Zealand to join top English side Wasps in the Gallagher Premiership from the 2018–19 season.

Sopoaga made his Wasps debut on 8 September 2018 in a 31–42 defeat to Exeter Chiefs, he came on as a substitute in the second half and scored a conversion from a try scored by Dan Robson.

He made his full starting debut the following game week, on 16 September, scoring 18 points (three conversions and four penalties) in a high scoring, 41–35 win over the Leicester Tigers.

On 13 April 2021, Sopoaga would leave Wasps as he will travel to France to join Top 14 outfit Lyon from the 2021-22 season.