No All Blacks players wanted to represent the NZ 7s team at the Tokyo Olympics

No All Blacks players wanted to represent the New Zealand sevens team at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

While four Super Rugby players have been released from their clubs to allow them to join the NZ sevens squad after the Mitre 10 Cup, no All Blacks accepted an invite from sevens coach Clark Laidlaw to add an Olympic gold medal to their CV.

Although NZ Rugby Head of High Performance Mike Anthony wouldn't say which All Blacks were on Laidlaw's wish list, it's highly likely speedsters such as Rieko Ioane, Sevu Reece and George Bridge would have been among those approached.

The selection process for Tokyo 2020 began in September last year when letters were sent out to players, who were invited to attend a meeting.

Anthony confirmed at that point a number of them ruled themselves out when they got responses either from the players or their agents.

Super Rugby players Caleb Clarke (Blues), Etene Nanai‑Seturo (Chiefs), Salesi Rayasi (Hurricanes) and Scott Gregory (Highlanders) have been granted leave from their clubs to shift into the 2019/2020 sevens campaign.

Source: Stuff.co

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