Chiefs await decision on Liam Messam ahead of playoffs

Chiefs are hopeful of SANZAAR clearing New Zealand flanker Liam Messam to play for the Super Rugby club in the playoffs.

Messam was not part of the original Chiefs squad as he was training with the New Zealand Sevens squad in a bid to be part of the 2016 Olympics.

However, the 32-year-old was left out of the final squad and he immediately made a return to his Super Rugby club Chiefs after his Japanese club Toshiba gave him a green signal to play the remainder of the season.

According to the rules of SANZAAR, for a player, who was not originally part of the squad to represent the club in the playoffs, he must be eligible to play for the country of that team, and in the country, before April 1, but also have been in the match-day 23 on four occasions.

Chief executive of Chiefs Andrew Flexman is confident that the Super Rugby board will clear Messam to participate in the playoff and believes the tournament will keep the former New Zealand sevens captain in good shape in case he receives a late call to join the Olympics squad.

"In our view we've made a really solid and thorough submission to SANZAAR, so certainly hoping that they'll view our application favourably," he said.

"It would be, I think, fairly harsh to say on the basis of the timing of when they were required that you should be deprived of access to a replacement player that you're wanting to call on at the business end of a competition."