Lima Sopoaga gets his shot

The buildup to this Saturday night’s third Bledisloe Cup test has been about as low key as a South African Jerome Garces appreciation party.

However, while the game is meaningless in terms of the over-sized cup finding a new home across the ditch, there are a couple of interesting storylines. The first of which is that everyone seems to have forgotten that the last time these two teams played, it was one of the greatest test matches in recent memory.

Also, it’s the first time this season that the All Blacks will take the field without 2016’s World Player of the Year Beauden Barrett. Again though, this hasn’t really caused a much of a stir among All Black supporters - given that the guy coming in to fill the number 10 jersey has a reputation of reliability and nerveless goal kicking ability.

Because of Barrett’s head injury against the Springboks, Lima Sopoaga is getting his second starting berth. Barrett’s irresistible form has meant he’s been more or less the first guy picked ever since he took over from Dan Carter, and Sopoaga has patiently bided his time on the bench - mostly playing a few cameo roles at the end of already decided tests.

The two notable exceptions to this were his only other start and the All Blacks’ most recent game. Both against the Springboks, both in highly pressurised situations.

In Johannesburg in 2015, Dan Carter’s injury gave Sopoaga a chance to make his debut at the cauldron that is Ellis Park. It’s also worth noting that the Springboks hadn’t quite hit the downhill slide that saw them lose to Japan and Italy, in fact they’d beaten the All Blacks the last time they’d played at the venue. Sopoaga made one of the more remarkable first test appearances, scoring 12 points off the boot in a flawless display and setting up a try for Ben Smith.

It’s also worth noting that his last outing in South Africa came at a time when the Springboks decided to cast off the mantle of being World Rugby’s basketcase, putting in an awe-inspiring effort to go down to the All Blacks 25-24 in Cape Town. Barrett’s aforementioned injury meant that Sopoaga played the majority of the game at first five, nailing a succession of crucial goal kicks in an assured performance. He was even at the centre of the defining play of the game, a botched charge down by Damian de Allende that ended up with the Bok midfielder being red carded.

But this isn’t really anything new for the Wellington-born pivot. Sopoaga shifted south after a few seasons with his home province, seeing that his path to the Hurricanes 10 jersey would be blocked by rising star Barrett for more or less the rest of their careers.

His move to the Highlanders worked out pretty well, in the end. In a nice bit of irony he ended up playing against the franchise that watched him leave in the 2015 Super Rugby final. Despite the fact that the Hurricanes had massacred the Highlanders just a few weeks earlier in the regular season, Sopoaga guided the Highlanders to an unlikely 21-14 win at Westpac Stadium.

Cool, level-headed and dependable all sum up Sopoaga pretty well. Given that the All Blacks will be happy just to get in and out of Suncorp Stadium with a regulation win, a guy like that is all they need.