Liam Messam hints at Tokyo future

Liam Messam wearing the jersey of Tokyo club Toshiba Brave Lupus. Photo / Instagram

World Cup-winning All Black Liam Messam has further hinted at his next career move overseas, posting another photo of himself on social media wearing the jersey of a professional Japanese rugby club.

Messam was always expected to move to Japan after the 2015 Rugby World Cup, before possibly returning to New Zealand to chase a spot in the All Blacks Sevens side for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Today he posted a picture of himself wearing the jersey of Toshiba Brave Lupus on Instagram, with the words: "Enjoyed watching my first game of top League here in Japan. I can see why Japan done so well in the RWC..."

The post has been "liked" more than 3000 times in three hours. He also shared the image and message via his Twitter account, which has more than 99,000 followers.

Messam, who has 135,000 followers on Instagram, posted another photo of himself wearing the jersey of the Japanese club two days ago.

The side is based in Fuchu, Tokyo.

Alongside the photo, he said: "Looking forward to the new adventure with Toshiba Brave Lupus. And being reunited with #kahui #Latimer #Bates @michael_leitch as an added bonus..."

Fellow New Zealand rugby players Richard Kahui, Tanerau Latimer, Steven Bates and Michael Leitch all play for Toshiba Brave Lupus.
Messam also used the hashtag #roadtorio on this earlier post, signalling his Olympic goal.