The Australian Rugby Union reacted to the flood of top players heading abroad on Wednesday with a groundbreaking policy shift which will allow experienced Wallabies playing at foreign clubs to be selected for test matches.
Effective immediately, players with 60 caps who have played for seven years in Super Rugby with an Australian team will be eligible to continue their international careers even if they are signed to a club overseas.
Other players based abroad will immediately become eligible if they commit to playing Super Rugby in Australia for the following two seasons.
"For some time we've been grappling with the issue of overseas clubs recruiting our players," ARU chief executive Bill Pulver told reporters.
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