Jarryd Hayne was approached by the Australian Rugby Union when he arrived back in Australia after his first season in the NFL, "but rugby's governing body was not tempted to speak to him again after he announced his desire to compete for Fiji in rugby sevens at the Olympic Games," according to Tom Decent of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. There were reports on Wednesday that Hayne "had not been named in Fiji's initial squad for the London Sevens," but coach Ben Ryan "has until Friday to name his final squad, which is expected to change by then." It would "appear unlikely Hayne will be left out of the last leg of the World Series event." Former Wallabies coaches Bob Dwyer and John Connolly believe the ARU "did not miss an opportunity to go after Hayne this week," with former CEO John O'Neill going so far as to say he "would not go near him" if he was still in charge. Some would argue the ARU "might have missed the boat by not trying to speak to Hayne," but O'Neill said he thought the governing body "made the right call." O'Neill: "If I was running the ARU, I wouldn't go near him. I wouldn't go there. ... All the other challenges that rugby has on its plate, particularly on a financial front, I just don't see Jarryd Hayne as a priority" (SMH, 5/18). Decent reported in a separate piece Australian women's sevens coach Tim Walsh "has echoed the thoughts of men's boss Andy Friend," saying if a female version of Hayne approached him and "wanted to join his squad this late into their Olympics preparations, he would have no hesitation telling her to find something else to do." Friend "went on the front foot earlier in the week by declaring Hayne would not get a start in his Australian squad" ahead of the London Sevens event this weekend because he would "not be physically ready for the demands of the truncated format." Friend: "I'm very comfortable with what we've got. If it happened six months ago of course you'd be interested. But my experience is this is such a specialized game and you have to have played the game. You have to have had the conditioning in order to play the game and for me there wouldn't be enough time [for Hayne] to get that" (SMH, 5/18).
