England rugby coach Eddie Jones suspects there is more than meets the eye in Jarryd Hayne’s selection in the Fiji Rugby Sevens Olympic extended squad.

Speaking to News.Com, the former Wallabies mentor said all signs suggest there is another force at work behind the scenes inside the Fiji team’s dressing room.

Hayne is currently in camp with Vodafone Fijian 7s 23-man squad for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August after making his sevens debut at last month’s season-ending London Sevens event.

Jones said that was as close as the former NRL star will get to his Olympic dream.

“I must admit I was surprised they played him,” Jones told Sky Sports Radio. “There must be something going on behind the scenes because it’s quite a unique selection. You talk to anyone who knows anything about sevens, you’re looking at about a period of three to six months to be ready to play at the top class level. You can’t just walk in. It doesn’t’ matter if you’re the best runner in the NFL, you’ve got to be able to play sevens. Certainly, his performance in London suggests he’s going to be struggling to make that team.”

Hayne struggled to make an impact in his sevens debut and struggled to read the play. He was also limited to playing minimal minutes at the back-end of Fiji’s matches.

“It’s not about game time, it’s about going out there and doing a job for the team,” he said after the London event.

“It’s all hard, continuous, I got caught in the ruck a couple of times too. That was a good learning curve and when you’re rucking and trying to ruck the ball obviously you exert a lot of energy. It’s so much faster, it’s a lot quicker, (I’m) still getting used to it. I’m just being a sponge and learning as much as I can.” The Vodafone Fijians remain the hot favourites to win the gold medal in men’s rugby sevens at the Rio Games.

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj