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Rugby players Ben Daley and Nick Phipps have both criticised Jarryd Hayne’s decision to seek out an Olympic spot for Fiji so close to the event.
Speaking on Foxtel’s Rugby 360 program the pair had some stern words about Hayne’s move to the rugby sevens format.
“There’s no doubt he’s a quality athlete,” Daley said.
“But to tell you the truth I think it’s probably a little bit selfish to think he’ll make the Fiji team.”
“If I was one of those Fijian players and he just put his hand up and said ‘I’m going to come in and make the Olympic team’ I’d be pretty filthy as a player after spending years and years getting to that point.”
Nick Phipps agreed that he’d be angry if he were to miss out on selection with a new player coming in and also singled out Hayne’s rugby sevens debut in London as a sign that the 28-year-old is out of his depth.
“You watch him play in the Australian game. Two breakdown penalties, a knock on in a very important part of the game and you just don’t know how ready he is,” Phipps said.
“Set piece, breakdown, wide skills – all those things you just can’t develop over a short amount of time, especially if you haven’t even done it before.”
“Good luck to him but I just don’t think we’ll be seeing him in six week’s time,” he said.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.