Who is eligible to play for the Wallabies is about to change as the Australian Rugby Union is to change its rules to allow Australians to play for New Zealand and South African Super 14 sides without losing the chance to be selected for their country.
ARU boss John O'Neill announced the policy shift in Hong Kong, where he will attend the final Bledisloe Cup match on Saturday. Previously only players living and playing in Australia could be considered for the Wallabies.
The stunning move comes after the ARU announced that it would open its teams to foreign players. With overseas-based South Africans theoretically still eligible for the Springboks, the Super 14 teams could take on a far more cosmopolitan aspect in future.
The prospect of George Smith or Lote Tuqiri plying their trades in Wellington or Cape Town is now set to become a reality.
Flagging the policy change, O'Neill said it was sensible to open the door in a controlled manner.
"As long as you're playing in a SANZAR competition, you're eligible," he told the Daily Telegraph
"If Matt Giteau wants to play for Auckland, we'll still continue to select him for the Wallabies."
Australia recently relaxed their "no foreign players" rule to allow their Super Rugby franchises to each recruit one marquee player not eligible to play for the Wallabies and one development player, who might fall within the Wallabies' orbit once he had fulfilled the three-year eligibility period.
The Reds immediately snapped up NZ Test flanker Daniel Braid, much to the disgust of many a administrator on the other side of the 'ditch.'
O'Neill attempted to soften the blow of this latest ARU policy switch by suggesting the two countries could agree on poaching limits.
"We could put in place a protocol that says Australia will recruit no more than X number of All Blacks," he said.
"As it is, the maximum is four because we only have four provinces but we might cap it at, say, two. In return, they could recruit two Wallabies."
The policy shift, still to be ratified by the ARU board, represents the first relaxation of the policy that has been in place since the dawn of professionalism in 1995, one designed to ensure Australian rugby didn't lose its best players to overseas clubs.
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