Liam Messam is working hard to earn his respect back in the All Blacks Sevens side.
Messam captained the Sevens back in his 20s, but is finding things much harder for his 31-year old legs.
"It's been a while since I've played a game of rugby, it's maybe the first time since late December I got to play footy," Messam said.
"The main goal is getting back out there and understanding the game. When I first started playing 15s I had to work hard to become a 15s player, now I've done that I have to earn my respect back to become a sevens player."
Messam joked that one of the changes he was adapting to was keeping up with his younger teammates.
"These boys are a bit younger, fitter, faster and it's pretty tough to keep up with them. But I put the work in over the off season to made sure I can."
Overcoming a calf injury, Messam said coach Sir Gordan Tietjens had been "thrashing" the team with fitness drills and he was holding up fine.
Messam said that other than the lungs readjusting to game, the biggest change with adapting back to seven-man game was the coverage on defence.
Watch the full interview with Liam Messam above.
Newshub.
