Tuqiri chases UK visa

Fiji Times - Saturday, October 31, 2009 5:32 PM

LOTE TUQIRI'S plans to play a stint of rugby union for an English club took him to Canberra yesterday, where he was seen visiting the British High Commission.

It is understood he was there as part of his application for a UK working visa.

Tuqiri was tipped to announce this week he had signed for an English club – either Leicester or London Irish – to play in the Guinness Premiership, but as of late yesterday there had still been
no word from the sacked Wallaby on his future.

The stint will probably be a short one, allowing Tuqiri, who originally made his name as a league player with the Brisbane Broncos, to return to the NRL for the start of the season with Wests Tigers.

The Tigers have consistently denied they have finalised a deal with Tuqiri, the club's chief executive Stephen Humphreys saying as late as Thursday, when a report surfaced saying Tuqiri had made a deal with the club for three years, that "we absolutely refute the suggestion".

But the Tigers freely admit they have been negotiating with Tuqiri and hope to have him at the club next season.

The problem for the club is the NRL's rule against signed players having guest stints with rival codes.