Chiefs prop Ben Tameifuna appears to have ended his All Blacks hopes, with the French media reporting he has landed a three-year deal with Paris club Racing Metro.

That would see the 23-year-old join All Blacks superstar Dan Carter at the ambitious club after this year's World Cup in England.

Tameifuna's hopes of playing in the World Cup would now lie with Tonga.

He had been given an April deadline to declare his international preference, and a French deal takes the All Blacks out of the equation because of their eligibility rules on offshore players.

It has been reported that Tameifuna opted for Racing Metro ahead of Toulouse and Toulon.

Tameifuna was part of the All Blacks' wider training squad in 2012 and was in the frame for Tonga's end-of-year tour last November, although he decided to concentrate on his boxing training for last month's Fight For Life, where he lost a controversial decision to rugby league hard-man Willie Mason.

The 137-kilogram Tameifuna has grown into a cult hero with Chiefs fans for his try-scoring exploits close to the line and his tough tackling.

The former New Zealand under-20 representative has worked hard on his fitness, which belies his size.

Tameifuna, who shifted from Hawke's Bay to Waikato, signed a fresh one-year deal with the Chiefs last year that will see him play his fourth season for the franchise in 2015.