The IRB have waived the rule that states a player selected for a Test team, an A-team or a national sevens side, cannot go on to represent another country.
The New Zealand Rugby Football Union have successfully contested the ruling – arguing that the law is retrospective, and that Devine should be cleared as the law came in after he appeared for Australia. An IRB statement released today has cleared Devine to play: ‘Eligibility cases of this nature are subject to individual assessment based on their specific facts.’
The statement said that Devine believed that his eligibility would not be affected when he represented Australia. Devine said he would not have represented Australia in the Dubai Sevens tournament had he been aware it would compromise his availability for New Zealand.
Australian born scrum half Devine represented the country of his birth in a sevens tournament in Dubai in 1998, but after an impressive season with Auckland in the National Provincial Championship he has been was picked by the All Blacks for their European Tour.
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