THE AUSTRALIAN SEVENS programme has announced that Quade Cooper will not be considered for selection for the Rio Olympics this summer.
The Toulon out-half announced his intention to compete for a place in the Australia squad in January, with his French club agreeing to release him to play in several legs of the Sevens World Series in order to earn his spot at the Olympics.
Cooper did feature for the Aussies in the Las Vegas and Vancouver legs of the tour in March, but will now drop out of his part-time involvement in the programme after badly struggling to adapt to the seven-man code.
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“There’s no doubt Quade is a quality player, but put simply, we just haven’t had the opportunity to work with him as much as we would have liked over the past five months,” said Australia sevens head coach Andy Friend.
“Each day I have a group of 20-plus players working on different structures and patterns of play and I don’t think we would have got the very best out of Quade had we just thrown him into a tournament with limited preparation – particularly for an event as momentous as the Olympics.
“As many players have found out throughout this season’s World Series, it is no easy task to transition from fifteens to the sevens form of the game.
“Although we are still a few months out from the games, I think it offers the fairest outcome for everyone by making the call now. Quade can channel his energies into Toulon while we can enter the next phase of our preparations for Rio knowing the direction we want to take.”
Cooper is playing club rugby with Toulon in France. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Cooper’s failure to adapt to the sevens code is a clear sign of the difficulty for 15-a-side players in doing so.
Others 15s stars such as New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam have transferred into sevens on a full-time basis this season as they chase Olympic gold.
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Cooper dropped from contention for Australia's Olympics sevens squad
THE AUSTRALIAN SEVENS programme has announced that Quade Cooper will not be considered for selection for the Rio Olympics this summer.
The Toulon out-half announced his intention to compete for a place in the Australia squad in January, with his French club agreeing to release him to play in several legs of the Sevens World Series in order to earn his spot at the Olympics.
Cooper did feature for the Aussies in the Las Vegas and Vancouver legs of the tour in March, but will now drop out of his part-time involvement in the programme after badly struggling to adapt to the seven-man code.
“There’s no doubt Quade is a quality player, but put simply, we just haven’t had the opportunity to work with him as much as we would have liked over the past five months,” said Australia sevens head coach Andy Friend.
“Each day I have a group of 20-plus players working on different structures and patterns of play and I don’t think we would have got the very best out of Quade had we just thrown him into a tournament with limited preparation – particularly for an event as momentous as the Olympics.
“As many players have found out throughout this season’s World Series, it is no easy task to transition from fifteens to the sevens form of the game.
“Although we are still a few months out from the games, I think it offers the fairest outcome for everyone by making the call now. Quade can channel his energies into Toulon while we can enter the next phase of our preparations for Rio knowing the direction we want to take.”
Cooper’s failure to adapt to the sevens code is a clear sign of the difficulty for 15-a-side players in doing so.
Others 15s stars such as New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam have transferred into sevens on a full-time basis this season as they chase Olympic gold.
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15s Olympics Quade Cooper Sevens transition