Brian Lima
Encyclopedia
Brian Lima is a former Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

n rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame
IRB Hall of Fame
The IRB Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Rugby Board that recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The IRB Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other individuals...

 in 2011. Originally a wing, Lima moved into centre for Manu Samoa
Samoa national rugby union team
The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...

 as his pace lessened, but he remained a formidable player throughout his career.

He earned the memorable nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits in defence that supposedly rearrange the bones of the victim. He has been described as the best Samoan rugby union player of all time.

Career

Lima made his debut for Manu Samoa back in 1990 and featured in the famous World Cup
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

 win over Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 in 1991. He was the youngest player at the 1991 Rugby World Cup
1991 Rugby World Cup
The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...

.

One of Brian Lima's most illuminating moments came in Samoa's match against South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 in a group match at the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

. As Springbok fly-half Derick Hougaard
Derick Hougaard
Derick Hougaard is a South African rugby union player who plays for Saracens in England. He normally plays at flyhalf...

 leapt up in the air and caught the ball, Lima "dive-tackled" Hougaard, sending him crashing to the ground and dazing him for at least 5 to 10 minutes.http://rugbydump.blogspot.com/2006/09/brian-lima-bone-cruncher.html.

He signed for Munster
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...

 after an extremely impressive game for the southern hemisphere vs the northern hemisphere in a fundraising game
IRB Rugby Aid Match
The IRB Rugby Aid Match was a rugby union football match played on 5 March 2005 under the auspices of the International Rugby Board to raise money for the United Nations World Food Programme to support its work aiding victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami....

 for the 2004 tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...

. However Lima was injured shortly after landing in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and never got to pull on the Munster jersey. He has also played for the Blues, Auckland, the Highlanders, and Secom in Japan. He signed a two year deal with Bristol
Bristol Rugby
Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...

 starting in the 2005–6 season.

He is the only player to appear in five World Cups, his fifth being the 2007 World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

 in France, in which he came on against South Africa in Samoa's first game after 60 minutes.

According to the Samoa Observer, Lima announced that he would retire after the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

.

Michael Jones, the Manu Samoa coach, announced Brian Lima as the captain for the first game of that year's Pacific Nations Cup. Brian Lima has been selected to lead Samoa against Fiji
Fiji national rugby union team
The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...

. This game was one of Brian's last games on Samoan soil.

Brian Lima was selected for his record fifth Rugby World Cup in 2007 and retired after it, his swansong didn't go terribly well though as disputes about whether he should be banned (after a dangerous tackle on Jaque Fourie
Jaque Fourie
Jaque Fourie is a South African rugby union footballer. He is a versatile backline player whose usual position is in the centres...

 marred his time on the pitch).

He is currently an assistant coach for the Samoan Under-18 squad. He also attends and regularly plays in the local Marist Saints
Marist Saints
The Marist Saints is a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. They regularly feature in the Fox Memorial, the premier division in Auckland Rugby League...

 Rugby League team as a centre as they went on to win the tournament and was named MVP of the year. He plans to be a coach in the future.

External links

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