Ireland sevens boss not ruling out switches from XVs for Paris

TOPP-MAN: Men's head coach James Topping poses for a portrait during the Ireland media day ahead of the HSBC SVNS Season at IRFU High Performance Centre at the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Ireland men’s sevens coach, James Topping, has spoken to IRFU performance director David Nucifora about the possibility of bringing some XVs players into the shorter-form of the game for next year’s Olympic Games.

The revelation that Antoine Dupont is set to skip the Six Nations with a view to featuring for France in next summer’s tournament has focused the spotlight on a version of the game that tends to live in the shadows.