New Zealand Rugby boss Steve Tew has expressed his disappointment that more All Blacks haven't put their hands up to play sevens rugby in an Olympic year.
Tew's comments came as national sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens confirmed he is eager to introduce Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam into his squad for the Wellington Sevens next month.
"We offered the athletes a choice and they've made their choices," Tew said. "I've spoken to a number of guys we would have preferred to have given the Olympics a crack, and they all found it a very, very difficult decision to make. But at this stage they still see the opportunity to secure an All Black jersey as more important to them than the chance to go the Olympics if selected.
"I don't know there's much more we can do. We are unable to force people to do anything, and they're all capable of making their own decisions. Would we have preferred to have two or three star XVs players saying yes to Rio? Yes, we would. But we haven't. My personal view is that once they've seen rugby at the Olympics and they've talked to some players who went there will be a lot more interest in it in 2019 than there was in 2016."
Following his injury ravaged side's disappointing fourth-place finish at the Cape Town Sevens today, Tietjens is hoping Williams and Messam will be available to bolster his squad along with the return from injury of several other key players.
