Rugby: Messam, SBW eye sevens gold

Liam Messam will miss the 2016 season for the Chiefs. Photo / Getty

The Chiefs are set to be without two of their biggest names next season with Liam Messam and Sonny Bill Williams eying sevens gold at the Rio Olympics.

Messam has confirmed he will miss next year's Super Rugby season while Williams has been linked with following his captain to the seven-man game.

If both players depart it will be another blow for a franchise that after back-to-back titles was eliminated in the first week of the playoffs for a second straight year on Saturday night. It will be a different Chiefs side in 2016 than one we've seen in the last four years.
Assistant Tom Coventry is leaving for a head coaching role at London Irish, with Tasman's Kieran Keane set to join Rennie's staff, while a host of players are overseas-bound.

Some losses will be more felt than others. Matt Symons (London Irish) and Ben Tameifuna (Racing Metro) have long established themselves as integral members of the pack, while Tom Marshall (Gloucester) and Bryce Heem (Worcester) have nailed down regular roles in the outside backs.

But it's their linchpin who will undoubtedly be the biggest absence, with Messam's desire to be involved in the New Zealand sevens set-up ahead of the Rio Olympics robbing the Chiefs of their captain. With Williams also linked with a temporary switch to sevens, it leaves coach Dave Rennie with holes to fill before next season.

But it was the inability to offer a fitting farewell for those players that left the coach feeling "hollow", having watched his side fall at the first hurdle for the second straight finals campaign.

"It is a disappointing way to finish for the calibre of players we have leaving," Rennie said. "Guys like Liam Messam and I guess six or seven players to go. It would have been nice to have given them a decent send-off so it is disappointing. But you have to give it to the Highlanders. They've had the wood on us all year."

Considering the Chiefs lost five from five against the Kiwi sides still alive in the Super Rugby playoffs, no arguments can be made of an unjust exit by the Hamilton-based side.

Yes, they suffered with injuries, particularly during an inconsistent end to the campaign. And it's true they were victims of a couple of dodgy decisions in key New Zealand derbies.

But the Hurricanes and, particularly, the Highlanders showed time and again why they belonged in the competition's final four and why the Chiefs belonged at home.

The Highlanders' outstanding victory in Saturday night's qualifier completed an impressive trio of triumphs over the Chiefs this season. They beat them by coming from behind, they beat them by blowing them off the park and, in a white-hot playoff atmosphere, they beat them by staying cool and calm.

The balance of power in the New Zealand conference, which for two seasons lay with the Chiefs and the Crusaders, has shifted once more, leaving Rennie's men with questions on how they can reclaim their crown.

It's equally obvious the gulf in quality will only grow if the Chiefs fail to attract sufficient talent to replace those heading out the door.

They have already stolen highly-touted Crusaders prop Nepo Laulaua to fill Tameifuna's sizeable boots, while Aaron Cruden, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Nathan Harris will all return after injury prevented the All Black troika from making any impact this season. But more may be needed.