Saturday night, in his 182nd outing for the club, will mark his first start for the Chiefs in 1037 days, dating back to the 2018 quarterfinal defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington – Messam’s last match in New Zealand before leaving for French club Toulon.
A week earlier he had played his final game in Hamilton (off the bench against the Hurricanes), while his last start on home turf was another week before that, when he lined up at No 8 against, coincidentally, the Brumbies.
“It is a surreal feel, it’s quite buzzy,” Messam admitted ahead of running back out on FMG Stadium Waikato again, in that blindside flanker role he had made his name so prominently in.