Chiefs loose forward Liam Messam has set his sights on making the New Zealand Sevens team for the 2016 Olympic Games.

The 30-year-old, who has 32 caps for the All Blacks, is no stranger to the abbreviated version of the game having won two Commonwealth Games gold medals as part of Gordon Tietjens' team.

'My major goal is to get to the Olympics and I'll be 32 by then. So I know I need to do all the recovery work and I need to eat what I need to be able to train every day,' he told the Sunday Star Times.

Olympic squad members are likely to miss large parts of the 2016 Super Rugby season and possibly that year's Tests.

'The NZRU has to put a process in place that supports the sevens and also doesn't undermine our 15s, because 2016 is going to be a big year for whoever is in the All Blacks [team] as there could be a lot of changes,' said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. 'So you wouldn't want a whole lot of people going, but there's certainly room for some people to go and it's just about getting that balance right.'

Photo: Martin Hunter/Getty Images