Lima Sopoaga is on course to set a new Highlanders points-scoring record. Rugby writer Steve Hepburn looks at the young pivot and his development since he joined the Highlanders in 2011.
Sport is riddled with cliches. But most cliches have a ring of truth in them.
One is that the first person picked in any rugby team is the goal kicker.
This may be true, but once he is picked, he then has to go and kick goals.
That is where the Highlanders have struck the jackpot this year.
They have got a goal kicker who has missed just six kicks all year.
Lima Sopoaga has had 51 shots at goal this season and nailed 45 of them.
That is a success rate of better than 88%.
Not a bad effort.
In fact, better than that.
Very, very good. Excellent.
In a competition as close as the Super 15 this year, goal kicking does count. A heck of a lot.
Against the Hurricanes back in March, Sopoaga missed a sitter at the start of the game and then proceeded to kick every other goal, scoring 25 points in all.
And when you win by four points, every kick matters.
It is the same with the match against the Rebels. The side won by three points and Sopoaga missed only two kicks all night.
Highlanders fans of even a very immature vintage will know how vital it is to have a deadly accurate goal kicker.
For many years, the side would get close but often finish on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Those losses were seen as coming down to a bad play near the end of the game but, in reality, the game was lost by some wonky goal kicking earlier in the match.
Instead of being six points ahead at the break, the Highlanders were often three points behind because of some average kicking.
The likes of Daniel Bowden, Matt Berquist and Colin Slade could never find the posts with any regularity. Actually, Slade could; he just found the posts and it bounced straight back off them.
Sopoaga (23) is averaging more than 15 points a match and is well on his way to breaking Tony Brown's season record of 150 points, which, by some distance, is the lowest top points score of any franchise. Aaron Cruden leads the way with 251 points in 2012.
If Sopoaga plays every game and keeps up his average - which, to be honest, is unlikely - he could easily crack the double century.
Sopoaga is having a season many envisaged when he first joined the franchise in 2011.
He was a fresh young face out of Wellington College, who had played for the New Zealand Schools side.
He had played for Jamie Joseph at Wellington but in his first three seasons down here he started just 10 games. Sore shoulder, legs and groins intervened. He played just 173 minutes last year.
But now match fit and with more time in the No10 saddle, he is turning into a trump card for the Highlanders.
Sopoaga has credited his improved play this year to finally being injury-free, getting more game time and receiving input from the new attack coach.
That coach is Tony Brown, who, no doubt, will hold no grudges if Sopoaga breaks his points record.
Lima Sopoaga
The record
2011 6 starts, 51 points (1 try, 2 con, 14 pen)
2012 2 starts, 1 substitution appearance, 12 points (3 con, 2 pen)
2013 2 starts, 5 substitution appearances, 21 points (6 con, 3 pen)
2014 8 starts, 123 points (1 try, 17 con, 28 pen)
