Rugby Admin

International Player Clearances

International Player Clearances within Rugby Union are governed by World Rugby Regulation 4.

The International Player Clearances Policy within Rugby is held under Regulation 4.6.1 which provides:

A Player leaving their current Union to play in another Union shall not be registered or eligible to participate in competitions organised, recognised or sanctioned by that new Union until they have an endorsed International Clearance.

International Player Clearance (From Australia to Another Union)

Therefore, Players wishing to play within another International Union must obtain clearance from:

The Club they are currently registered with;
The corresponding State Union; and
Rugby Australia.

Clearance should be obtained prior to departure from the player's current Union and can take up to 10 days for the process to be completed.

All players applying for an international clearance are required to complete the Rugby Australia International Clearance Form below.

The Player will need the email address of the Secretary or President of the Club they are currently registered with to complete this form.

Once the Club has signed/completed the declaration confirming that the applicant is a registered player and is not serving any form of suspension the form must be forwarded to the State/Territory Union for signing.

The completed and signed Application for Clearance is then forwarded to Rugby AU for endorsement.

Once checked and endorsed Rugby AU will forward this on to the new Union.

Please note that any applications received by Rugby AU which have not been correctly completed and/or signed will not be endorsed and will be returned to the applicant.

For Incoming International Clearances (players arriving in Australia), please contact the Union you are currently registered with to understand their International Clearance process and obtain their current application form.