All Black loose forward Chris Masoe has given up his battle to regain his spot in the national squad and signed a two-year deal with French Top 14 club Castres.

The Hurricanes and Wellington openside flanker has played 20 tests for the All Blacks and was a regular member of Graham Henry's side until this year.

But after losing his spot in the national pecking order to Auckland's Daniel Braid, the 29-year-old has clearly seen the writing on the wall.

The 1.83m, 106kg loosie missed out on the initial All Blacks training squad this year when Braid was preferred as a backup No 7 to skipper Richie McCaw

He gained somewhat of a reprieve when he was recalled to the All Blacks squad for the opening couple of Tri Nations matches, with McCaw injured and Braid still recovering from a calf strain incurred playing for NZ Maori.

But Masoe's services were not required for either of the two home tests against the Springboks, with Henry instead using Masoe's Hurricanes team-mate Rodney So'oialo in the openside slot. Since then Braid has been whistled up for the looming Bledisloe matches.

Masoe played the last of his 20 tests for the All Blacks in last year's World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in Cardiff. He has also played over 60 matches for the Hurricanes and 59 for Wellington.

Castres finished fifth in the French Top 14 league last season.