Rugby league’s international eligibility rules have been relaxed once again in a major change, with players now allowed to represent the country their great-grandparents were born in.

The IRL confirmed the rules change in a press release on Monday morning.

In addition, Tonga and Samoa’s promotion Tier 1 status alongside Australia, New Zealand and England was also announced.

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The release detailed that the change came about following a “detailed submission from the Cook Islands”.

“The IRL Board had a lengthy discussion in regards to the application from Cook Islands and the Board has resolved to change eligibility for all three forms of the game for every nation to great grandparent,” IRL chair Troy Grant said via a statement.

“We did a lot of analysis and looked at a lot of data to help inform the Board to be able to make this decision, and every nation has the ability to go to great grandparent as part of the heritage eligibility for their player pools going forward.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Dave Riccio announced the news on Channel 7’s World Cup coverage on Sunday night, believing the decision will “future-proof” the international game.

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“It’s a major change for the future of the game,” Riccio said.

“As it stands, heritage players can only use their grandparents to play for the nation they’ve chosen but the International Rugby League have decided to push it out to great-grandparents.

“This future-proofs the game. Due to the fact a majority of these families are migrating to New Zealand or Australia, their residency or birthplace heritage in these smaller nations such as Cook Islands and Lebanon simply won’t be there in the future.”

It’s the second time the international eligibility rules have been changed in some form this year.

Back in February, it was announced that players who had appeared in Test matches for Tier 1 nations Australia, New Zealand and England could switch allegiances.

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It opened the door for Kalyn Ponga and Dane Gagai to represent the Kiwis this World Cup.

Samoa and Tonga entered this year’s World Cup as Tier 2 nations, but have now been elevated, with the IRL wanting to recognise their “performances on and off the field”.

“The Board voted unanimously to engage with Tonga and Samoa on elevating them from Tier 2 to Tier 1 status,” Grant said.

“I have been in contact with both nations to advise them of the Board’s decision. We will be working with them over the next couple of months to ensure there is no unintended consequences from that potential elevation to Tier 1.

“This is out of respect and acknowledgement of their achievements on two fronts; obviously their performances on field are without question the equivalent of the current three Tier 1 nations and secondly these two nations have taken gigantic leaps forward regarding their governance and what they are doing domestically.”



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