Deans backs Sevens for Olympics
Posted
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has backed moves to get rugby union included as an Olympic sport in the 2016 Games.
"(The Olympics) is the pinnacle of most athletes' careers. To have it recognise rugby would be outstanding," Deans said.
The game's world governing body, the International Rugby Board, is pushing to have Sevens, an abbreviated version of the full 15-a-side game, included in the 2016 summer Olympics.
A decision on rugby union's Olympic future will be taken in October 2009 in Copenhagen, when the International Olympic Committee will vote on whether it should be included.
The sport was originally part of the Paris Games of 1900, but was dropped after 1924.
Deans was speaking ahead of the November 1 Bledisloe Cup match between the Wallabies and the All Blacks, being staged for the first time in Hong Kong.
-AFP
