Sonny Bill Williams has all the skills to be a sevens star © Getty Images

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Sonny Bill Williams and several other high-profile All Blacks have just four months to signal their sevens interest and make themselves available for the Rio di Janeiro Olympic Games.

According to stuff.co.nz, New Zealand Rugby will name an initial Olympic sevens squad in May, meaning Williams and others must make a decision over the coming months.

The chance at Olympic glory was said to be one of the key drivers behind Williams' return to rugby while the Australian Rugby Union is likely to offer a similar carrot to Israel Folau in the hope he may yet re-sign beyond this season.

Other New Zealand players said to be considering the sevens switch are Julian Savea and Ardie Savea, Liam Messam, Victor Vito, Ben Smith and Charles Piutau. The addition of some of the All Blacks biggest stars would bolster an already strong NZ sevens squad coached by Sir Gordon Tietjens.

NZR general manager Neil Sorensen will move between the five Kiwi franchises over the next few months where he and player relationship manager Ben Castle will garner the sevens interest of Super Rugby players.

"Ben and I are going around in the next couple of months to talk to players Titch may be interested in about how it might work in 2016 in terms of whether they can play any Super Rugby and how many sevens tournaments they'd have to play," Sorensen said.

"It's going to be personalised to a large extent. The Super Rugby teams need to know sooner than later so they can talk to other players. Knocking it off in May this year gives everyone certainty. You're looking at a mix of specialist gurus, the experts who have played sevens for a few years, and a smattering of other players like Sonny Bill. I certainly don't see it being eight All Blacks and four other guys. It won't work like that."

With sevens being such a specialised format nowadays any Super Rugby player making the switch would need significant preparation time to be ready for a tilt at the Olympics. And with the World Rugby Sevens series running throughout the Super Rugby season, that would result in a number of missed matches for their Super franchise.

The hardest hit could well turn out to be two-time Super Rugby champions and 2015 title favourites, the Chiefs. Still, coach Dave Rennie wouldn't begrudge Williams or anyone who put their hand up for sevens duty.

"There's no doubt going to an Olympic Games is pretty special," Rennie said. "If he (Williams) commits to sevens he'll still play some Super Rugby. We just won't have full access to him. With Sonny he couldn't just play sevens and sit out for three weeks. We've certainly been talking to Titch around that. It's going to be the same for all the franchises. If you've got some guys involved then you'll get some access to them."