Rugby-Late-arriving Wallaby Cooper misses out on Sydney sevens

(Removes reference to World Cup winner in third par) SYDNEY, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Quade Cooper's bid to represent Australia at the Olympics suffered a minor setback after the Wallaby flyhalf arrived too late to make the squad for the Sydney leg of the World Series sevens tournament on Thursday. Rugby sevens will make its Olympic bow at the Aug. 5-21 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The last time rugby featured at an Olympics was in the 1924 Games in Paris, where the United States beat France for gold in a 15-a-side tournament. French club side Toulon agreed to release the 27-year-old Cooper for the Sydney, Paris and London legs of the World Series and the 58-cap Wallabies back was expected to make his international sevens debut this weekend. However, Cooper could only take part in a single training session after his arrival on Wednesday, forcing Australia head coach Andy Friend to exclude him from the final 12-man squad. "Quade is an exceptional footballer and has shown real character to put his hand up and say 'I want to be part of this team and work hard for this opportunity'," Friend told reporters. "That's exactly what you want. "There is no doubt in my mind that he will be a tremendous addition to the squad as we build towards Rio, but due to circumstances which were beyond Quade's and our control, he just couldn't get enough work in this week with the team." New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams made his eagerly anticipated sevens debut last weekend in a mixed display as the hosts managed to eke out a 24-21 win over South Africa in the final of the Wellington leg. The All Blacks' World Cup winner, who has also shone as one of the world's finest rugby league players and New Zealand's champion heavyweight boxer, is also targetting a place in the inaugural Olympics sevens. Capped 58 times, Cooper was part of the Wallabies squad that finished runners-up at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and Friend said the player would have opportunities to prove his worth with Sydney being the fourth of eight legs in the World Series. "Quade is going to get his opportunities during the series and we are really excited to have him here in our group and with us throughout this preparation," Friend added. (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by John O'Brien)