Rugby-Britain opens Olympic sevens door to 15-man code

By Mitch Phillips LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Players from the 15-man code will be eligible for Britain's rugby sevens squad at the 2016 Olympics although time is short and opportunities limited for any of them to stake a claim, officials said on Friday. The news is the latest twist in a long and complex story that began when England were selected to represent Britain in qualifying for the Rio de Janeiro Games but then had to find a way to pick a team from a sport where there in no united side and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland play against each other. Britain's Olympic place in August was secured by England's performances on the World Sevens circuit last year. Players from the other countries will also be considered but no united team has been allowed to compete on the circuit. Officials said on Friday that men's coach Simon Amor would name a training squad of 20 to 25 at the start of May with the final 12 for both the men and women announced in mid-July. Women's coach Simon Middleton will continue to work with a squad of 24, including two Welsh players and one Scottish, who have been training together since October. World Rugby, the sport's governing body, would be delighted to see some of the biggest names from the 15-man game playing in Rio as sevens makes its Olympic debut. New Zealand, with Sonny Bill Williams, and South Africa, with Bryan Habana, have already begun the integration. However, before any British players can be included there will be further negotiations between the organisers and clubs, who already operate under strict rules regarding release of players for internationals and who will lose many of them to southern hemisphere tours in June. Sevens has developed into a specialised game and the current England squad are fulltime sevens players, making the task for any late 15-man converts look even tougher. In an attempt to address the issue, officials said British teams would compete in a series of tournaments in June and July. "It is a condensed programme as a result of a number of unique challenges," Amor said in a statement. "Being able to enter two GB teams in all (warm-up) competitions allows us to test different combinations and confirm which 15s players can make the physical, mental and game understanding transition. "We will (then) have a good understanding of which players are really putting their hands up." (Editing by Tony Jimenez)