After an injury to Chiefs captain
Aaron Cruden, Sopoaga's Super Rugby efforts in 2015 saw him gaining selection for New Zealand. Sopoaga was named in the
All Blacks' 41-man squad for the
2015 Rugby Championship, making his international debut against South Africa in Johannesburg on 25 July 2015, debuting alongside lock
James Broadhurst. Sopoaga started the match and was not subbed off, with replacement
Beauden Barrett replacing
Israel Dagg off the bench instead of Sopoaga who scored 12 points on debut, guiding the All Blacks to a 27–20 win. Sopoaga narrowly missed out on selection for the
2015 Rugby World Cup, with selectors preferring 100-plus test veteran
Dan Carter and the versatility of
Colin Slade and Barrett. Sopoaga was re-selected for the All Blacks in the Steinlager series against Wales in 2016. After Cruden was injured again, Sopoaga made his second test appearance in the third test against Wales on 25 June 2016 which was a 46–6 win at Sopoaga'a home crowd in Dunedin. Sopoaga replaced
Ryan Crotty off the bench in the 55th minute, covering inside centre for the rest of the test. Following the departure of Aaron Cruden to France and the inexperienced
Damian McKenzie being used at fullback, Sopoaga carried a far heavier workload for the All Blacks in the 2017 season. Sopoaga replaced Beauden Barrett in the 59th minute of a 78–0 win over Samoa, converting two tries. Sopoaga also went across for what would have been his first try that match, but it was disallowed after he received a forward pass from replacement scrum-half
TJ Perenara. Following the win over Samoa, Sopoaga made another 11 appearances for the All Blacks that year. Concussion to Barrett saw Sopoaga step up in the second test against South Africa in 2017, replacing Barrett only 33 minutes into the game. Sopoaga scored 7 points that day, converting tries by McKenzie and winger
Rieko Ioane. Sopoaga also attempted a drop goal in the 76th minute but missed. Springbok replacement back
Damian de Allende attempted to charge down the kick but was controversially red-carded for a late hit on Sopoaga. The Springboks were further punished by De Allende's mistake because of Sopoaga turning the penalty given into 3 points, the deciding factor in the All Blacks' 25–24 win that day. Barrett's continued concussion symptoms saw Sopoaga named to start for only the second time in his international career, starting against the Wallabies for 2017's third Bledisloe Cup test on 22 October 2017. An attempted pass from Sopoaga to midfielder
Sonny Bill Williams went wrong in the 6th minute of the test, with Wallabies winger
Reece Hodge intercepting to score a try. Sopoaga recovered well to score 8 points but was subbed off in the 60th minute for
David Havili, with McKenzie moving into first-five. The Wallabies went on to win 23–18. Sopoaga made an appearance in every All Blacks fixture on the 2017 end-of-season tour, replacing Havili and McKenzie against the Barbarians and France. Sopoaga earned a mid-week start against a French XV on 14 November 2017 where Sopoaga did not miss a kick at goal. He was replaced by debutant
Richie Mo'unga in the 53rd minute. Sopoaga followed up the performance against the French XV by replacing
Waisake Naholo off the bench against Scotland and Wales. Sopoaga's signing announced with the Wasps will likely mean his appearance off the bench against Wales on 25 November 2017 will be his last test for New Zealand. In late 2023, Sopoaga was selected to play for
Samoa for the
2023 Rugby World Cup in France. He made his first appearance in a 28 to 14 victory over the
Barbarians. He earned his first official cap the following week in a close 13 to 17 loss to
Ireland. During pool play at the World Cup, Sopoaga appeared in two matches: the first was off of the bench in a dominant win over
Chile, while the second match saw him start at fly-half in a one point loss to
England. == References ==