With the Hong Kong Sevens "looming large," former Fiji rugby coach Ben Ryan said that changes "need to be made to the World Rugby Sevens Series as it deals with its Olympic hangover," according to Sam Agars of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Ryan, who led Fiji to Gold in Rio, feels the series will "eventually become a four-year warm-up for the Olympics and advocates cutting the amount of teams and revamping the tournaments to help it stay relevant." He said, "My view is that they should cut down the length of the days, I think they should be shorter and every tournament should have three days like the Olympics." Ryan, who works as a rugby ambassador for HSBC, "has noticed a distinct drop-off in standards this season." This is "due in no small part to the let-down after Rio and the fact a number of sevens stars have opted to take lucrative contracts" in the 15-man game. Ryan: "What the guys are finding out is that it is such a unique cycle, the first time it’s been post-Olympics. I’m not saying this in a disrespectful way but the standard is not as good as it was last year and in previous years" (SCMP, 3/29).