Hurricanes loose forward Ardie Savea will take no further part in the New Zealand Sevens team’s campaign and won’t be in the team for the Rio Olympics.
Savea played for the sevens team in Wellington and Sydney and had been down to play for them in Paris and London, with an eye to making the team for the 2016 Olympic Games, but has pulled out to focus on 15s.
Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens said Savea he was very disappointed Savea would not be returning to the team.
“There’s little doubt Ardie could’ve been a key player for us in Rio, but we respect his decision.
“What’s really important looking ahead, is that we still have a strong squad of players motivated to perform in Rio.
“That’s creating great competition for places so we’re very excited about the next two tournaments as we shape the best team for the Olympics.”
New Zealand Rugby’s general manager of rugby Neil Sorensen said it was disappointing Savea would no longer be available for the team.
“He could well have made a huge impact at Rio as he’s a classy player and he proved that again in Wellington and Sydney.
“However, we understand his reasons. As we said from the outset of our Rio programme, playing sevens was very much apersonal choice for players. You’re never going to get the best out of any athlete by forcing them to play against their wishes.”