HAPPY DAYS FOR LIMA
KIWI ACE TAKING PRESSURE OFF HIMSELF AT WASPS THIS SEASON
HOLDING a plate of sweet potato topped with a mound of healthy extras Lima Sopoaga entered Wasps’ media room for his first chat with the press at his new club.
The Kiwi innocently assumed that he could finish his lunch while answering the questions of one, maybe two journalists and fulfil a few fluffy in-house club media requirements. A month into his Wasps career after making the leap from the southern hemisphere to northern last summer, a surprise awaited him as he walked through that door. The first of many wideeyed moments in his difficult first season.
The small room in the temporary buildings bolted onto Wasps’ training ground base at Broadstreet RFC was brimming with reporters which were at the numbers normally reserved for cup final preparations. Mick Cleary (Telegraph), Chris Foy (Daily Mail) and Stephen Jones (The Times), among others, were in town to speak to the 18-times capped All Black at the start of his exciting adventure.
Headlines followed that spread as far as his homeland, centring on his understandable admission that the riches of European rugby render the lure of the All Blacks jersey to be ‘not enough for a better life.’
Unfortunately for Sopoaga, worse headlines were to follow. Measured against the giant shadow Danny Cipriani was casting from Kingsholm with his virtuoso performances at Gloucester, Sopoaga struggled to inspire a Wasps side that was ravaged by injuries and plagued by rumours of a key exodus. Many of which were proven to be true.
‘Lima the Lemon’ was the New Zealand Herald’s take after they picked up on The Times labelling the former Highlanders ‘five-eighth’ as the worst buy of the 2018/19 Premiership season.
In April, his employers made the unusual step of publicly denying the suggestion Sopoaga was set to end his time in England after one year having struggling to adjust on and off the pitch.
He needed a good summer. It didn’t happen. Even with old school friend Jeff ToomagaAllen and buddy Malakai Fekitoa now on board, Sopoaga’s fortunes appeared irreversibly locked in a downward spiral. On a podcast appearance the fly-half revealed he was having a ‘pretty s***’ time of it pulling his calf three times during preseason.
The guy just couldn’t catch a break.
Then it happened. Having missed three of Wasps’ Premiership Rugby Cup games he arrived from the bench in the fourth with Wasps 18-6 to the good against Worcester Warriors and a little over a quarter of the tie remaining.
Minutes later he fired a missile pass into Marcus Watson’s hands and repeated the trick soon afterwards as the fullback brought up his hat-trick in a 39-6 victory. Their replacement ten was dancing across the Ricoh Arena turf like a man reborn.
A few hours after the final whistle, Sopoaga shared a tweet with his 30,000 followers acknowledging the fun he had was down to a mindset to ‘have fun with me mates’ this term.
Back in that same media room 13 months after his first interview, with no lunch in sight and only myself and Clive Eakin from BBC CWR for company, a relaxed Sopoaga expanded on the topic without the character limitations of a social media post from his mobile phone.
“Saturday was a good reminder for me why I played the game before I became a professional and it’s quite easy to forget that, when you’re getting paid to play rugby,” he said.
“Obviously it’s a job, but first and foremost when you’re a little kid running around and picked up a rugby ball you did it because it was fun and you shouldn’t lose that as a professional either.”
It was, of course, only a small step in the right direction. Bigger tests await than the one presented by a staggering Worcester side begging for the knock-out blows he inflicted upon them. It seems, for the time being at least, the pressure which weighed heavy on Sopoaga last term isn’t quite so suffocating this time around.
“In the first year I did [feel the pressure] but not any more,” he explained. “This year, I’ve just got to go and enjoy my rugby and have fun. Good things happen when I am playing that kind of rugby and not worrying about what’s been said, not worrying about being a marquee player, not worrying about this going wrong or that going wrong, I just need to go and have fun and that’s what I plan to do.”
Allowing Cipriani to leave and Sopoaga’s subsequent slow start intensified the scrutiny on Wasps director of rugby Dai Young, who conceded at one stage last season he was ‘in a dark place’ as he fought fires both on and off the pitch.
However the Worcester victory, and chiefly his Kiwi flyhalf’s 22-minute exhibition of play-making magic, warmed the heart of the Welshman.
“It was great to see him coming off with a big smile on his face,” said Young. “That made my day. I thought he put in some wonderful passes, which broke the line and had a nice kicking game. He looked on his
I’ve just got to go and enjoy my rugby and have fun. Good things happen when I am playing that kind of rugby. Lima Sopoaga
toes. Him being out for a while might be a little bit of a blessing in disguise.
He added: “We all know how good he can be. I don’t think he was helped by the injuries and the way the team was playing last season. A lot of pressure was put on his shoulders.
“To be that guy on the big white horse, riding in and saving the day for us. That pressure isn’t easy for one man to take. I do think that was tough for him, but I do really hope this season he can go out and play with a smile on his face and start enjoying himself and showing everybody what a good player we know he is.”
The acquisition or two more All Blacks is likely to benefit their fellow countryman who wasted little time in sharing his experiences to help ensure prop ToomagaAllen and centre Fekitoa’s transition into English life and rugby is smoother than the one he endured.
“It’s awesome having them here,” said Sopoaga. “It’s been a long time since we (Fekitoa) last threw the footy around together. For me, it’s like we never left and it’s the same for Jeff.
“I am pretty lucky to have Jeff, his wife and his son here, because, we actually went to school together and played all of our rugby together through the grades, to have him here is pretty special.
“It’s just little things I may help them with, like where the best supermarkets are, day care centres for Jeff, for Mala, what restaurants to eat at. I think sometimes we can forget those little things can help with playing rugby.
“Council tax, all those things you don’t realise when you first come over, as a foreigner. To share all my experiences, the good and the not so good, that I’ve found over, hopefully it helps.”
The body, on the evidence of his first 2019/20 hit out, is firing on all cylinders. But the important battle for sustaining those levels of performance lies between the ears. The catalyst for Sopoaga’s journey to conquering his demons wasn’t an ‘iceberg moment’ or a specific tipping point. Instead, it’s just a sobering understanding it is time to reconnect with the sport he loves but temporarily pushed him to his limits.
“It was just coming into this year knowing I didn’t achieve the things I wanted to achieve,” he said.
“Reflecting on maybe my mindset, asking myself why I didn’t achieve those things. It came back to that and I boiled it down to, just worrying. Worrying too much about this and that. A whole bunch of other stuff.
“Just having fun and putting a smile on my face, at the end of the day it is just a game and is something I’ve always enjoyed doing.”
Sopoaga’s next opportunity to back up his cup performance is in Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership opening round clash against newlypromoted London Irish, with his boss Young hoping the best is yet to come.
“I know he is looking forward to getting out there,” said the director of rugby. “He wasn’t happy with last season, he’s had plenty of time to get accustomed to northern hemisphere rugby now.
“He’s far more a part of the team now. I’m pretty confident he is going to kick on and we will all start seeing the player we all saw when he was playing in New Zealand.”
Focusing on the visit of the Exiles, Sopoaga ended on a positive note that perfected reflected his fresh, relaxed outlook.
“I’m just glad my mate Waisake Naholo is still in New Zealand, that’s what I am happy about,” he joked, referring to the 27-times capped All Black who has yet to arrive in England to play for Les Kiss’ side.
“They’re coming to the Ricoh, hopefully it’s a good day for us.”