Ireland Men's Sevens coach James Topping says he would welcome players from the 15s team but has warned that there’s no easy way into his Olympic Games squad.
Both the Ireland men’s and women’s teams will be in action in Paris next summer having wrapped up qualification earlier this year.
Former Meath and North Melbourne footballer Vikki Wall has been parachuted into the women's programme with the aim of featuring in France.
And the news that France captain Antoine Dupont and former Australia skipper Michael Hooper will also switch codes in order to go for gold has opened up the possibility that more will follow.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said the province would be "open-minded" about facilitating potential switches, while Hugo Keenan, who spent almost three years in the Sevens programme but is now an Ireland regular, said it would be "cool" but his focus is on regaining the Champions Cup this season.
Topping last week named a 19-man squad for the upcoming World SVNS Series, which begins in Dubai at the start of December.
The side will play eight tournaments and finish up at the Grand Finals in Madrid in May. After that it’s all eyes on Paris and a shot at the podium, which Topping says is "definitely" the goal.
Asked if he would rule out getting any players from outside the current roster involved, Topping, capped eight times by Ireland between 1996 and 2003, told RTÉ Sport: "No. No. Absolutely not.
"Now that players are growing up seeing an Olympic Games, there is some sort of target they can look at.
"I have lots of phone calls coming in from guys who are keen to have a crack, see what they can do.
"Professional players now, the way they operate, I think they want to play 15-a-side first and foremost for Ireland and that’s the way we want our Sevens to end up playing for Ireland at 15-a-side level.
"But yeah, if something can be worked with some of them, probably more so the guys who have been involved before.
"[Hugo is] the perfect example of somebody who has that – if you watch the way he plays it’s all go, it’s all work.
"He tackles, he is action around the ball the whole time. So him, Jimmy O’Brien, Rob Baloucoune and Shane Daly would be some of the guys who have come though our programme.
"Couple of forwards as well, Nick Timoney. They've got that knowledge grounded in them already which would be an easy transition."
Dupont is set to join up with the Sevens programme in the new year and miss out on the Six Nations.
"It's been a while that discussions have been under way for me to be made available for this team," Dupont said on Canal+.
"We’ll have to adjust things; I won’t be able to play all the matches every weekend until the end of the season.
"Competing for an Olympic medal is really motivating. Sacrifices will have to be made to be able to spend time with the team."
Topping confirmed that he has spoken with IRFU high-performance director David Nucifora about the possibilities and says that he would expect any Olympic hopefuls to commit to the programme.
"They have to make a value impact to the team. Certainly, there are players in the 15s game who would be fantastic at Sevens," the former Ulster winger added.
"Maybe the more established guys see this as an opportunity because they know they could go back into 15-a-side straight away and it wouldn’t be a waste of their time. It would be something they could add onto their CV.
"Maybe the younger ones wouldn't see this as such a good move, as a stepping stone.
"So yeah, there will be obviously discussions with those guys to gauge interest.
"Obviously, we’re run by the union. France is slightly different, I think, the way they operate.
"So, we are probably in a better standing than they are to have players come in but yeah, its tough.
"You had a World Cup, you’ve got Six Nations, you got URC and European Cups, finding time, finding commitment, injuries on other teams, it all has to be sort of weighed up.
"I don’t think [it's been discussed it with players already]. I imagine [David Nucifora] would talk to the players. Talk to Andy Farrell, first of all.
"Talk to the provinces and sort of gauge what their reaction would be."
Ireland Men's Sevens - 2024 Squad
Niall Comerford, Jordan Conroy, Sean Cribbin, Billy Dardis, Ed Kelly, Jack Kelly, Terry Kennedy, JJ Kenny, Hugo Lennox, Matt McDonald, Harry McNulty, Bryan Mollen, Gavin Mullin, Chay Mullins, Dylan O'Grady, Aaron O'Sullivan, Connor O'Sullivan, Mark Roche, Zac Ward.
Watch live coverage of the Bulls v Connacht in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday from 2.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, and listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
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