England's national rugby league team has received a massive boost ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, with Titans star AJ Brimson officially ruled eligible to represent the nation.
Brimson, who is Australian-born to an English mother, was a multi-time State of Origin representative for Queensland, but had yet to break through and claim a spot on the Kangaroos roster.
He will now face off against them instead, joining England for both the Ashes and next year's Rugby League World Cup.
AJ Brimson switches international eligibility ahead of Ashes
AJ Brimson will officially represent England in international rugby league, after it was ruled that he was eligible through his heritge.
While Brimson had previously worn an Australian uniform during the 2019 IRL 9s World Cup and against France as part of the Junior Kangaroos that same year, he was yet to be selected in a 'Senior International Match', which would have been a disqualifying factor.
"This was a unique case in that a player who qualifies for two Tier 1 nations had elected to represent one of those nations in 9s and was therefore unable to represent the other nation in 13s," IRL Chair Troy Grant said.
"Yet the player has had no further opportunity to represent his elected nation in 9s, as he had anticipated, and has also not played a Senior International Match.
"The aim of the international eligibility rules is to ensure that the best players are able to represent a nation for whom he or she qualifies but in this case the player had been left sidelined.
"The tribunal therefore felt that player Brimson should be allowed to switch his international eligibility from Australia to England and approved his application to do so."
As part of this move, Brimson is also ruled out of further Queensland Maroons selections, as England is classified as a Tier 1 nation, meaning that any of their representatives are ineligible to play in State of Origin.