Former 49ers RB Jarryd Hayne Fails To Make Fiji’s Olympic Rugby Team

Former 49ers RB Jarryd Hayne was informed Friday that he failed to made Fiji’s Olympic rugby team.

“I had a meeting with Ben to discuss my future with the team and I was informed that my time has ended,” Hayne said, via Yahoo.com. “As much as I would have loved to go to Rio, I too knew I wasn’t ready yet.

“I used all my experience as a professional athlete and have tried everyday and in every way possible to make this team and make it better but unfortunately, time has been against me.”

Unfortunately for Hayne, he’s now ineligible to be selected for his native country Australia and their international rugby team. However, reports have said that Hayne could return to the NRL at some point.

Hayne somewhat surprisingly decided to retire from the 49ers and later explained that his decision to retirewas due in part to having trouble learning HC Chip Kelly’s playbook as quickly as others.

“I just think with Chip’s playbook, it’s such an intense playbook that it would just take too much time,” Hayne said, via the Sydney Morning Herald. “Me not having that college history, I think a lot of the guys adapt to it a lot faster because they’ve had the college playbooks. I was always behind the nine ball just learning in general. The guys playing in college were just that far ahead.”

The 49ers officially placed Hayne on the reserve/retired list close to a month ago, which ensures that they hold his rights in the event he elects to return to the NFL at some point.

Hayne, 28, wound up signing on with the 49ers last year and managed to make the 53-man roster coming out of the preseason. However, the 49ers waived him midseason and later signed him to their practice squad.

In 2015, Hayne appeared in eight games and ran for 52 yards on 17 carries (3.1 YPC) to go along with six receptions for 27 yards and no touchdowns. He also contributed 76 kick return yards.