AJ BRIMSON has been given the green light to switch his allegiance to England from Australia by an International Rugby League tribunal.
Brimson, who plays for NRL club Gold Coast Titans, was born in Australia but is eligible to represent his English heritage through his mother.
IRL eligibility rules state that players who have selected for a senior international or official competition for one of the historic top three countries (Australia, England and New Zealand) are unable to switch to another Tier 1 nation.
Brimson played for Australia in the 2019 IRL Nines World Cup in Sydney but has not been selected for any other Kangaroos match.
At the time, the Nines World Cup was part of IRL’s calendar planning and it was intended to be held every four years, but the tournament has effectively been discontinued.
Therefore, the tribunal felt that players who had played in that competition were being unfairly restricted as they elected for their country based on a different set of circumstances to players who elect for a country through a 13-a-side international.
Australia were consulted as part of the tribunal process and are said to be supportive of his switch to England.
IRL chair Troy Grant said: “This was a unique case in that a player who qualifies for two Tier 1 nations had elected to represent one of those nations in nines and was therefore unable to represent the other nation in 13s.
“Yet the player has had no further opportunity to represent his elected nation in 9s, as he had anticipated, and has also not played a senior international match.
“The aim of the international eligibility rules is to ensure that the best players are able to represent a nation for whom he or she qualifies but in this case the player had been left sidelined.
“The tribunal therefore felt that Brimson should be allowed to switch his international eligibility from Australia to England and approved his application to do so.”
Brimson could now face his country of birth in this autumn’s Ashes series, should he be selected by coach Shaun Wane.
Predominantly a fullback, the 26-year-old can also play at halfback or at centre.