Thursday 11 January 2018 06:48, UK
All Blacks fly-half Lima Sopoaga has signed a three-year deal with Aviva Premiership side Wasps, New Zealand Rugby have confirmed.
Sopoaga will join Wasps at the end of the year in a deal which effectively rules the 26-year-old out of the 2019 World Cup.
He used his Instagram page to say it was "one of the hardest decisions he has ever had to make".
"It is with a heavy heart that I announce that my family and I will be leaving NZ at the end of the 2018 season," he said.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said he was disappointed but understood Sopoaga's reasons to begin a new chapter of his career in England.
"Our job now will be to develop the next player to take his place," Hansen added.
Sopoaga made his All Blacks debut in 2015 against South Africa but only started twice in his 16 Tests in a position dominated in recent years by Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett and Aaron Cruden.
