Tuqiri leaves NRL, set for rugby union return

SYDNEY (AP) Dual international Lote Tuqiri is set for a second stint in rugby union after leaving Wests Tigers at the end of the regular season in the National Rugby League.

The NRL club confirmed Tuesday that the 33-year-old Tuqiri, who played 52 games for the Tigers in four injury-plagued seasons, had left Australia on Monday to take up a three-month contract with Irish rugby union powerhouse Leinster.

Tuqiri represented Australia in rugby league and won an NRL premiership with the Brisbane Broncos before switching to rugby union in 2003 and playing 67 tests for the Wallabies. He returned to rugby league in 2010 and was off contract at the end of the 2013.