New Zealand Rugby Stars Snub Chance At Olympic Sevens Glory
22nd August 2019
The mouth-watering prospect of Ngani Laumape or Sevu Reece carving up opposition defences at the Games was kicked into touch by sevens coach Clark Laidlaw
- New Zealand Rugby revealed Thursday that no current All Blacks will represent their country in sevens at next year's Tokyo Olympics
- Told earlier this year that he could select only one player from each of New Zealand's five Super Rugby clubs, Laidlaw opted for four uncapped youngsters, all of whom have previously played sevens
- They are Caleb Clarke (Auckland Blues), Etene Nanai-Seturo (Waikato Chiefs), Salesi Rayasi (Wellington Hurricanes) and Scott Gregory (Otago Highlanders)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand- New Zealand Rugby revealed Thursday that no current All Blacks will
represent their country in sevens at next year's Tokyo Olympics.
The mouth-watering
prospect of Ngani Laumape or Sevu Reece carving up opposition defences at the
Games was kicked into touch by sevens coach Clark Laidlaw.
Told earlier this
year that he could select only one player from each of New Zealand's five Super
Rugby clubs, Laidlaw opted for four uncapped youngsters, all of whom have
previously played sevens.
They are Caleb
Clarke (Auckland Blues), Etene Nanai-Seturo (Waikato Chiefs), Salesi Rayasi
(Wellington Hurricanes) and Scott Gregory (Otago Highlanders).
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"We have worked
very closely with all the Super clubs to ensure we could support those players
who were genuinely keen to be involved in the Tokyo Olympic Games," NZR
high performance chief Mike Anthony said.
"We also wanted
to ensure that the Super clubs were not significantly disadvantaged."
Laidlaw said in May
that he had identified several All Blacks who had the potential to play sevens
but was waiting to see if they were interested.
It follows a messy
selection process before the Rio Games, when Laidlaw's predecessor Gordon
Tietjens failed to lure All Blacks such as Beauden Barrett, Ardie Savea, Aaron
Cruden and Ben Smith into his squad.
In a major shock,
the 12-time world sevens champions failed to win a medal in Rio and Tietjens
resigned, complaining that NZR had blocked his access to top players.
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Star centre Sonny
Bill Williams did make the trip to Brazil but ruptured an Achilles tendon as
New Zealand suffered a loss to Japan in their opening match.
The All Blacks' bid
for a third straight Rugby World Cup, and fourth overall, opens in Japan next
month.
A cluster of senior
players are set to retire after the tournament and All Blacks management will
be keen to minimise disruptions to the remaining playing group next year.