Premiership veteran Jimmy Gopperth has been fortunate to enjoy such a long career as he enters his 11th season among England’s top flight, but retirement isn’t close to being on his agenda.
The New Zealand native is among elite rugby’s most loyal active servants after celebrating his 38th birthday in June, but Gopperth continues to play an important role at Wasps.
Lima Sopoaga’s departure for Lyon this summer relieved the club of one senior creative option, but it says a lot that coach Lee Blackett has opted not to draft in a direct replacement.
Instead, veteran Gopperth will be expected to provide cover and competition for young fly-halves Jacob Umaga and Charlie Atkinson, and age won’t inhibit the Kiwi from answering that call.
"The way I am training, the way I am feeling, there's no chance [of retiring],” Gopperth said.
"The only problem is, is getting contracts. That’s the only problem! I am feeling pretty good in myself. We've just got to see how this season plays out. Hopefully, I'll get the opportunity to play and put my best foot forward and hopefully earn myself the right to play another season or two.”
It’s understood the former Junior All Black signed a two-year contract extension at Wasps after the 2019/20 season, which ended with Wasps finishing as Premiership runners-up to Exeter Chiefs.
That would mean Gopperth’s stay at the Coventry Building Society Arena is poised to conclude at the end of this season, 20 years after he first made his entrance into the rugby arena.
The playmaker first broke out with Wellington in 2002 but didn’t sign his first professional contract until a year later, going on to represent the Hurricanes and the Blues in Super Rugby.
He first moved to England in 2009 when he joined Newcastle Falcons, going on to enjoy two seasons with Leinster as a temporary successor to Jonathan Sexton before joining Wasps in 2015.
Gopperth has twice settled for the silver medal in the Premiership title race, but he’s motivated to help end the club’s 14-year wait for the domestic grand prize, adding: "I want to win silverware.
“I’ve been close a couple of times with Wasps. I feel we've got the right group here to really press on. I don't want to be a number, I want to be someone that's competing for that jersey every weekend and hopefully lifting some silverware at the end of the year.”
Wasps finished a disappointing eighth in the standings last term, and the race for this season’s title will be even more difficult now that Saracens are back among the first tier.
But just as Marcus Smith and Harlequins upset the bookmakers by breaking out to win last season’s crown, Wasps will hope they can stage a shock run of their own.
Blackett couldn’t ask for many more qualified applicants to shepherd his young outside-halves through Premiership waters, with Gopperth sitting seventh in the league’s all-time scorer list.
His overall points tally of 1,529 puts him just in front of Jonny Wilkinson and only 76 below former Bath and Gloucester ace Olly Barkley, a very realistic target for the campaign ahead.
By Gopperth’s own admission, however, his Premiership quest may not end there, with the possibility that one of England’s greatest imports may well play into his forties.
The 2021/22 Premiership season starts on September 17, although Wasps won't open their campaign until a week later when they host Bristol Bears.
