Cooper backed to make Rio sevens squad

Australia was right to leave Quade Cooper out of their Sydney Sevens squad, Fiji coach Ben Ryan says, but the star playmaker should be given every chance to go to the Rio Olympics.

Cooper flew in from France on Wednesday to play in the weekend's tournament in a bid to gain selection for the games.

But he was left out by coach Andy Friend on the grounds he wasn't yet physically ready for sevens.

Highly-respected Englishman Ryan, who coached Fiji to the world sevens series championship last season, agreed Cooper shouldn't have been picked without a full preparation.

"If you pick a team based on what their reputation is, then you're going to be blown out of the water," he said on Friday.

Ryan said the door should be left wide open for Cooper, who still hopes to play three world series tournaments, backing him to make the Olympic squad.

"He's a talented playmaker," he said. "I'm sure his fitness won't be an issue, they'll sort that out, so he'll just need game time.

"Hopefully they can have an arrangement with (club side) Toulon and get him away for a couple of tournaments."

Ryan dismissed concerns sevens players may be unfairly squeezed out of Olympic selection by stars of the 15-man game, saying countries will pick whoever is best available.

"Sevens boys should be good enough to say, `if I'm being beaten into the team by a better player, fair enough'," he said.

"I'm picking on form."

The Rio games will be Fiji's best chance of winning a first ever Olympic medal, with the side currently second on the 2015-16 world sevens ladder.