Liam Justin Messam (born 25 March 1984) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays

TOP14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

for

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also known as RCT but usually Toulon; oc, Rugbi Club Tolonenc) is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. A current participant in the first-tier Top 14 competition, they ...

. In Super Rugby, he previously played for the , and for

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

in the ITM Cup. Messam predominantly plays as a blindside flanker but can fill in at Number 8 as well as openside flanker. After the retirement of then Chiefs captain

Mils Muliaina Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina (born 31 July 1980) is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a ...

, Messam was named the team's new co-captain from

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

onwards, alongside

Aaron Cruden Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Chiefs and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is first five-eighth (fly half). Early life Crud ...

National team

In October 2008, Messam was selected in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's end of year tour squad to tour Hong Kong and Europe. He played one test against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and one match against Munster. He subsequently appeared several more times for New Zealand but was dropped a month out of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in favour of Victor Vito. Since his debut in 2008 he won 40 test caps for the All Blacks. In 2004, at the age of just 20, he captained the New Zealand sevens team 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 The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

. In 2004 he was also named New Zealand Sevens Player of the Year.

Maori

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, Messam affiliates to the

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

. Messam has stated that he also has Samoan and Scottish heritage. He has 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 In rugby union, the Tom French Cup is an honour awarded by New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to the Tom French Memorial Māori player of the year. The cup has been awarded annually since 1949, when it was donated to the New Zealand Māori coach To ...

as Māori Player of the Year. On 31 January 2015, Messam fought on the undercard of close friend Sonny Bill Williams' boxing bout.

2015–present

Messam was selected for the 2015 Rugby World Cup as part of the All Blacks' 31-man squad. After the tournament was finished, Messam announced his intention to compete in rugby sevens for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Messam was later named in the All Black Sevens' squad for the Wellington Sevens alongside All Blacks teammate Sonny Bill Williams. After the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, Liam Messam did play for the Chiefs in 2016 Super Rugby competition, when injuries greatly affected the loose forwards positions . Throughout his professional athlete career Liam developed a preference for natural alternative health options to relieve both physical pain and mental challenges high-profile athletes experience. After witnessing the detrimental effect conventional pain relief and mental health medication has on close friends and family, Liam founde
Ora CBD
alongside Teddy Stanaway in 2020.

Professional boxing career

Messam made his professional boxing debut in January 2015 against Rhys Sullivan on a Sonny Bill Williams undercard. Messam won the fight by Unanimous Decision. Messam will return to the ring six years later to fight in a professional fight for charity to raise funds for Tauranga 8-year-old Antonio Pohatu-Barbarich who is being treated for brain cancer. Messam took on Joe Ageli in his return fight in April 2021, winning by unanimous decision. Since returning to professional boxing, he has started training with Hit Fitness HQ under retired professional boxing, Cairo George. In the same camp is Olympic Bronze medalist David Nyika. Messam will return one year later in New Plymouth, taking on Thomas Russell. Messam won his third professional fight by unanimous decision. After one corporate fight for a charity fight night under Fight for Life, Messam will return to the professional ring in July 2022 against Tussi Asafo. Messam will win get his first win by stoppage. In December, Messam will finish his busy 2022 boxing year by taking on Mathew Matich. Messam won the fight by Unanimous Decision.

Record

Personal life

Liam Messam's brother, Sam Messam, played in the 2008 All Whites side at the 2008 London Olympics.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Messam, Liam 1984 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Māori rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand international rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Waikato rugby union players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games New Zealand male rugby sevens players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Blenheim, New Zealand People educated at Rotorua Boys' High School Living people New Zealand international rugby sevens players Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of New Zealand Rugby sevens players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Ngāi Tūhoe people Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens RC Toulonnais players