No regrets as ex-sevens star shines in 15-man game

Of all the bright and shiny things emerging out of Waikato's impressive Air New Zealand Cup campaign, Liam Messam is perhaps shining brightest.

He scores tries, he sets up tries. He tackles and generally has a knack of cropping up in the highlights reels.

Gone is the "sevens specialist" tag. Gone too the belief he is capable of moments of individual brilliance but is too flaky to be a top-line 15s player.

He still gets barbs though: Rugby people telling him sevens stunted his development as a quality rugby player.

"A lot of people tell me it took me longer to get in the Chiefs than it should have because of sevens, but I love the game and I have a special place in my heart for that team.

"It's helped me quite a bit. I got to captain the sevens team and I never dreamed of that. I've won a world series and a gold medal. What's there to regret?"

He has no regrets, either, about playing at a province with arguably the greatest depth of loose forward talent in New Zealand. To make it on the park wearing a number between six and eight is an achievement. There's Jono Gibbes (a flanker-turned-lock), Steven Bates, Messam, Marty Holah, Sione Lauaki and Steven Setephano vying for starting positions.

"There's good competition in the team and it keeps everyone on their toes," is Messam's response. There's more than ego at stake: They are effectively fighting each other for lucrative Super 14 contracts.

"It works to our benefit because we've stayed good mates off the field," Messam says. "We push each other on the training field and in the gym."

Nobody wants to say it, but might Messam be a better long-term option for the All Blacks to cover all three loose forward positions than Chris Masoe? A bit radical perhaps, but how many were picking Masoe at the same time last year?

"That's what you're always striving to do; to play at the top level," Messam says. "But I also know there are a lot of good loose forwards around the country. There's guys like Jerome Kaino and Mose Tuiali'i who are still trying to break in as well."

No 8 is his preferred position. "I played No 8 at school [Rotorua BHS] and this is my first year back there and I've really enjoyed it."

Rumour has it people in high places like him as a breakaway but Messam is just starting to come to grips with a vital aspect of No 7 play.

"At openside you've got to hit rucks," he says, laughing. "You can't stand out in the backs all day, you've actually got to go in and hit rucks. But I don't mind No 7. The more I play there the easier it is getting. And I've got Marty Holah, one of the world's best No 7s, to learn from."

That's one of the reasons Messam is thriving in the Waikato - he feels like a sponge. With the return of Keith Robinson there's even more information to soak up, and more intensity.

The other reason Messam is blossoming in Waikato's team-first ethic (coach Warren Gatland has no qualms about dropping big-name players from week to week) is because he has been part of a large team since he was two weeks old.

Born in Blenheim, Messam was adopted by his Rotorua parents - he doesn't know his birth parents - who had three kids of their own and four other adopted kids.

"I always like to have people around me," he says. "When the numbers are down at home I get a bit lonely I go around to my brother's - he lives in Hamilton now as well - to see them and get some company.

"It was pretty cool growing up. My sisters [he has four] would always be giving me money when I was little and cooking us feeds all the time. That was the upside of it."

He also forged a lifelong alliance with another of Waikato's talent brigade, Willie Ripia.

He stayed with Ripia when he was a kid and they holidayed at Te Kaha, which is still his favourite holiday destination. "There's blue sky, fishing, diving, surfing every day. It's perfect."

He'd swap it this summer though, if it meant a trip around France, England and Wales.