Rugby-Ex 49er Hayne meets with ARU about union move - report

SYDNEY, July 21 (Reuters) - Former NFL and rugby league player Jarryd Hayne could change sporting codes again, having held talks with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), according to local media reports. Hayne missed out on his long-shot dream of playing for Fiji's rugby sevens side at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics having quit the NFL's San Francisco 49ers earlier this year in an attempt to make the South Pacific nation's Games team. The 28-year-old's future has been the subject of widespread speculation in Australia about whether he would return to the NRL with the Parramatta Eels or seek a lucrative contract in European rugby union. Hayne, however, met with ARU chief executive Bill Pulver in Sydney on Wednesday about a possible permanent move to the 15-man game with the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby, according to Fairfax Media. "We have had dialogue with Jarryd and discussed the potential opportunities available to him in rugby," Pulver told Fairfax. "Jarryd is obviously a very high-calibre athlete and we are always open to talking to a player who is genuinely interested in playing the game." Hayne defied the odds last year to make the 53-man roster of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, less than a year after quitting Australia's top-flight rugby league competition. He then walked away from the NFL earlier this year in an attempt to make the Fijian sevens side, who are the favourites for Rio gold having clinched their second successive World Sevens Series title earlier this year. Hayne was included in the Fijian squad for the final World Sevens Series tournament in London in May but was used sparingly by coach Ben Ryan as he struggled to come to terms with the intricacies of the shorter version of rugby and the fitness required. By playing for Fiji in London, however, he is now ineligible to be picked for his native Australia at international level in rugby. Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said earlier this month he would be interested in signing him for the 2017 season. Ryan told Reuters he thought Hayne, who played fullback in rugby league and was a running back/kick returner in the NFL, would be an outstanding inside centre in the 15-man game. "I'd play him at inside centre," Ryan told Reuters before he finalised his Olympics squad. "I think he can be a top end union player in that position. "He's a very good footballer. I'd be snapping him up." (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Toby Davis)