Liam Messam Rugby player
Liam Messam (born 25 March 1984 in Blenheim) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for the Super Rugby franchise the Chiefs, with 130 caps which makes him the most-capped Chiefs player to date, and for Waikato in the ITM Cup. Messam predominantly plays as a blindside flanker. After the retirement of then Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina, Messam was named the team's new co-captain from 2012 onwards.In October 2008, Messam was selected in the All Blacks end of year tour squad to tour Hong Kong and Europe. He played one test against Scotland and one match against Munster. He subsequently appeared several more times for New Zealand but was dropped a month out of the Rugby World Cup 2011 in favour of Victor Vito. Since debuting in 2008 he has won 29 test caps.In 2004, at the age of just 20, he captained the New Zealand sevens teams to its fifth IRB Sevens World Series title and in 2005 led the team to the final. Messam also played in the New Zealand sevens teams that won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Commonwealth Games. In 2004 he was also named New Zealand Sevens Player of the Year.He has also played for the New Zealand Maori, including during the 2006 Churchill Cup and the 2010 centenary series, where he captained the side. In 2012 and 2013 Messam was awarded the Tom French Cup as Māori Player of the Year.On 31 January 2015, Messam will fight on the undercard of close friend Bill Williams'>Sonny Bill Williams' boxing bout.
