Former All Blacks first five Lima Sopoaga hopes to play for Samoa one day, after missing an opportunity to switch his international allegiance because of Covid-19 and MIQ restrictions.
Lima Sopoaga celebrates a try against the Springboks during the 2017 season. Photo: PhotoSport
Players can switch allegiances by playing in an Olympic qualifying event, provided they have a passport for the second country and have completed a stand down period of three years.
UK-based Sopoaga told James Marshall on the What A Lad podcast he had plans to join the Sevens circuit held in Monaco last month, but had already made plans to visit family in New Zealand.
REVEALED: Former All Black @LimaSopoaga one of the players @manusamoa hoped to repatrionise via the Olympic 7’s loophole in Monaco. Unfortunately quarantine restrictions meant it wasn’t to be https://t.co/ZHqukwnC1t
— PacificRugbyWelfare (@pacificwelfare) June 30, 2021
Lakapi Samoa's General Manager of High Performance, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, said Sopoaga didn't want to leave his wife to travel alone with three children if he was to play at the tournament, and slots for the family couldn't be secured if they were to postpone their trip.
"He was okay to join but we couldn't find an MIQ site for him and the family on his return so yeah it was a bit hard for us," he said before their departure.
"We wanted to change it to after the event but unfortunately they couldn't find one and we didn't want to take the risk because it would have impacted him and the family."
Sopoaga completed his two weeks of quarantine in Auckland this week and will move to French club Lyon next season after three seasons with the Wasps.
Meanwhile the Samoa Sevens team that played in Monaco are reportedly trapped in Dubai, with World Rugby urgently exploring all options to assist getting teams home. (More to come)
