Brian Pala Lima '' OM'' (born 25 January 1972) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

n former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who was inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

in 2011. He earned the nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits both on and off the pitch that supposedly rearranged the bones of the victim.

National team

Lima was born in

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

, Samoa. He debuted for the

Samoa national rugby union team The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Sam ...

in 1990. He featured in Samoa's famous

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1991, and he was the youngest player at the

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 the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

. One of Lima's most illuminating moments came in Samoa's match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in a group match at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. As Springbok

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Derick Hougaard leapt up in the air to catch a hospital pass, Lima "dive-tackled" him, sending Hougaard crashing to the ground. Lima was the first player to appear in five World Cups, his fifth being the 2007 World Cup in France, in which he came on against South Africa in Samoa's first game after 60 minutes. Lima announced that he would retire after the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Michael Jones, the Samoa coach (at that time), announced Lima as the captain for the first game of that year's Pacific Nations Cup. Brian Lima was selected to lead Samoa against Fiji. This game was one of Lima's last games on Samoan soil. Lima also played for the

Samoa national rugby sevens team The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 202,000, the team competes against so ...

. He scored 17 tries in various Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments, ranking him third all-time in career World Cup Sevens tries.

Professional

Lima signed for Munster after an impressive game for the southern hemisphere vs the northern hemisphere in a fundraising game for the

2004 tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Su ...

. However Lima was injured shortly after landing in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

starting in the 2005–06 season. In December 2013 Lima was charged with causing actual bodily harm and being armed with a dangerous weapon after publicly assaulting and injuring his ex-wife. He subsequently resigned as coach of the Samoan national team. In June 2014 he was convicted on five charges and sentenced to two years supervision. In August 2020 he was appointed head coach of the

Recognition

Lima was appointed to the Order of Merit of Samoa in the 2014 Samoa Honours and Awards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lima, Brian 1972 births Living people World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Samoan rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres Stade Français players Bristol Bears players Blues (Super Rugby) players Sportspeople from Apia Samoa international rugby union players Pacific Islanders rugby union players Samoan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in Wales Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in England Samoan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Samoan expatriate sportspeople in England Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Japan Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Samoan expatriate sportspeople in France Samoa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Members of the Order of Merit of Samoa