The advent of rugby sevens being included in the Olympics has been taken up with much more enthuasism in the southern hemisphere than up here. Big name 15s players like Sonny Bill Williams, Bryan Habana, and others have postponed their larger game careers to pursue their Olympic dreams.
Quade Cooper was another big name to join up with the Australian sevens team - but he was released from the squad and will now no longer play the shortened form of the game.
Cooper himself has now revealed exactly why his mercurial skills won't be dazzling Olympic fans - it's because he isn't eligible. Despite being a 58 times capped Australian international, and lived in Australia since he was 13-years-old - Cooper never officially became an Australian citizen with a passport, and according to Olympic rules he will not be eligible to represent Australia in Rio.
Despite there being three months until the start of the Olympics - Cooper won't have enough time to get his passport in time:
The situation is that it's difficult with my passport, having to be in Australia for 90 days before I can get my citizenship even though I've played 58 times for my country. That's the frustrating part for me, not being able to get the passport and citizenship stuff sorted in time.
Cooper will now focus on settling in with his new club Toulon after a shaky start to life in France.
[New Zealand Herald]
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Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
