ULSTER flanker Nick Timoney would jump at the chance to represent Ireland at next summer’s Paris Olympics.
The men’s sevens team have qualified for the multi-sport showpiece in the French capital, and the IRFU performance director David Nucifora has stated one player from each of the four provinces can stake a claim for a place on the plane.
Timoney played for the Ireland sevens team while part of the Ulster Academy, honing his skills which subsequently saw him capped at international level in the 15-man code of the game.
France’s mercurial scrum-half Antonie Dupont will skip the Six Nations to prepare with his nation for the Olympics, while former Australian captain Michael Hooper has expressed his intentions of going to Paris.
‘’I’d love to but I’d be somewhat surprised if I was nominated ahead of (Rob) Baloucoune or (Aaron) Sexton but I’m not saying no if they do,” stated Timoney.
“It would be amazing and I think it’s great what France are doing with Dupont playing and what Ireland are shaping up to do, getting a player from each province because sevens is great and it’s not a secret that rugby has sort of struggled in some places in England etc and to grow into countries it wasn’t always in I think sevens is a good way to do that.
“Having the superstars of the sport at the Olympics can only really be a good thing in my eyes.”
Timoney thinks having the some of the best players in the world at the Olympics can benefit the 15-player code.
“It’s not that sustainable a process but I don’t know, is once every four years kind of showcase to the world the sport and I think it’s probably beneficial in the long run certainly to the people in the sport.
“If you are a France fan you might be disappointed that Dupont isn’t playing in the Six Nations but are you not going to watch or go to games just because one or two players are missing versus the potential of dragging in hundreds of thousands, millions, I don’t know how many people watch the Olympics.
“If Dupont goes and wins the Olympics for France in his home country and a million more kids watch and decide that they want to take up rugby, I don’t know, maybe that’s worth a trade-off.
“You can say the same for the Lions tours, is it great to have two or three of your team’s players go and play in New Zealand when it doesn’t directly benefit Ulster to have Hendy (Iain Henderson) go and play for the Lions but in the long run it kind of does add more of an attraction that you’ve got these lads who are kind of superstars playing and coming back.
“If he (Dupont) comes back and plays for Toulouse and he’s made a huge scene at the World Cup or it could be anyone, that can have its own benefits too.
Dreams of the Olympics will be put on hold for Timoney as he returns to the bread and butter of the URC tomorrow night and a must-win game against Irish rivals Connacht in Belfast.
Ulster are seventh in the table after losing their last two games, with the western province a place and a point behind.
“It’s huge and it’s a large part how you judge yourselves against your closest rivals and the teams you play most often.”
“In our situation at the moment the Irish teams are generally the standard bearers or pretty close to it.”
“It’s obviously important to us both from a pride point of view we want to win, we’re at home, it’s an interpro, there’s a million reasons why that’s important.”
