Adual-code rugby international is arugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-siderugby league and 15-a-siderugby union.

Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby inNorthern England in 1895 and in New Zealand and Australia in 1908, and consequently a number of early top-class rugby league players had been star players in the rugby union code. Accordingly, a high proportion of Australia and New Zealand's dual-code rugby internationals played in rugby league's formative years in those countries.

From 1910 to 1995, dual-code internationals were infrequent and with the single exception ofKarl Ifwersen, the player had always first appeared as a union international before shifting to league, due to strict bans applied by administrators in rugby union, which remained amateur, to those players who crossed to the professional code. In 1995 rugby union itself turned professional and the tide of switches began to reverse. Since then the vast majority of cross-code representatives have debuted internationally in league before moving to union where there is now a larger audience and more money available.

Backs have more often been successful at the highest level of both games than forwards – approximately 65% of the players here listed are backs, although pre-1995 many notable forwards moved from union to league. Since 1995 nearly 90% of the league to union converts who went on to play internationally have been backs.

The following is an incomplete list of dual-code internationals, listed by country.

• 
  Dally Messenger
• 
  Bob Graves
• 
  Pat Walsh
• 
  Boxer Russell
• 
  Chris McKivat
• 
  Jumbo Barnett
• 
  Bob Craig
• 
  Patrick McCue
• 
  Herb Gilbert
• 
  Peter Burge
• 
  Watson (back mid),Dore (front 2nd from left)
• 
  Arthur Summons

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Qualifying on residency, New Zealand-born Jack Nielsen became Hong Kong's first dual-code international when theHong Kong rugby league team played their first ever international match in November 2017.^[33]

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There have been 36 New Zealand dual-code internationals. Only four people became dual-code internationals after first representing New Zealand in rugby league:Karl Ifwersen,Sonny Bill Williams,Matt Duffie andRoger Tuivasa-Sheck.

The 1907Professional All Blacks (derisively referred to by the New Zealand press as theAll Golds) left New Zealand in August 1907 for their ground-breaking tour of Britain via Sydney. The squad contained eight formerAll Blacks inGeorge Smith,Thomas Cross,William Mackrell,Herbert Turtill,Duncan McGregor,Eric Watkins,Massa Johnston andEdgar Wrigley. These men became New Zealand's first dual-code internationals at the point they first played on the ten-month tour.

The three matches in Sydney between 17 and 24 August against professional New South Wales rugby rebels were played underrugby union rules so do not qualify as international rugby league appearances. But full internationals under "Northern Union" (rugby league) rules were played againstWales inAberdare on 1 Januard 1908 and three Tests againstGreat Britain in Leeds on 25 January 1907, Chelsea on 8 February 1907 and Cheltenham on 15 February 1908. Three Test matches were played in Australia on the homeward leg before theAll Golds arrived home in June 1908 having played 48 games (tour matches and Tests) as internationals.

• 
  Duncan McGregor
• 
  Sonny Bill Williams

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With 99, Wales have more than twice the number of dual-code rugby internationals than any other country.

• 
  Dai Jones
• 
  William Dowell
• 
  Ben Gronow
• 
  Ernie Jenkins
• 
  Percy Coldrick

Dally Messenger

Messenger played for Australia in rugby union, and for both New Zealand and Australia in rugby league. One week after his final Test appearance as aWallaby, Messenger, who was born in Australia, toured Great Britain at the invitation of the New ZealandAll Golds in 1907. He made his international rugby league debut on that tour representing New Zealand. His Australian international Test debut was made in Sydney in Australia's inaugural rugby league Test vthe Kiwis on 9 May 1908. He made six further international rugby league appearances for Australia.

Emosi Koloto

Koloto grew up in New Zealand playing rugby union and represented Tonga in the code before switching to league and moving to England. He was called up into theKiwis in 1991 from theWidnes club and played five tests that year.

John Schuster

Schuster first played rugby union, representing both Samoa and New Zealand. Later he switched to rugby league and captained Western Samoa in two pool games at the 1995 World Cup.

Henry Paul

Paul was born in New Zealand. His senior club rugby league career was played in England but between 1995 and 2001 he regularly returned to New Zealand to make international appearances for theKiwis. When he switched to union in 2002 he became eligible to represent England by ancestry of his grandfather and he did so in 2002.

Brad Thorn

Thorn was born inMosgiel, New Zealand. From age eight he played rugby league inQueensland and aged twenty-two he played for Australia during theSuper League split year. When the code reunited in 1998 he also played forAustralia.

In 2001 he moved to New Zealand and switched to rugby union. He appeared in twelve Tests forNew Zealand (the All Blacks) from 2003. For 2005–06 he returned to theNational Rugby League in Australia, winning a premiership with theBrisbane Broncos and playing at state level again. In 2008 he switched to rugby union for a second time and was again selected for the All Blacks.

Michael Horak

Horak was born in South Africa and representedSouth Africa in rugby league. He switched to rugby union in 1998 moving to England to play with theLeicester Tigers. He qualifies to representEngland via his English mother and did so in 2002.

Lesley Vainikolo

Vainikolo was born inTonga but raised in New Zealand playing rugby league at school. His league club career was played with theCanberra Raiders in Australia and theBradford Bulls in England. During that period he made twelve national representative appearances forNew Zealand (the Kiwis).

He took up rugby union withGloucester Rugby in 2007. He was eligible to play for Tonga by birth, New Zealand by parentage or England by residence. He had previously declined to play for Tonga in the2007 Rugby World Cup so that he could play for his adopted nation. He made his international rugby union debut for England v Wales in February 2008 and played in five tests that season.

Craig Gower

After a successful eleven year Australian rugby league career from 1996 to 2007 with thePenrith Panthers, during which he made fiveState of Origin appearances for New South Wales and twenty-three Test appearances for Australia (5 for theSuper League team and 18 for theARL team), Gower moved to Europe, switched codes and signed with French rugby union sideBayonne from 2008. He is eligible to play for Italy through his Italian grandfather. He was selected for Italy on their mid-season tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2009.

Shontayne Hape

Hape, a New Zealand Mãori, had a very successful rugby league career in both hemispheres, first with theNew Zealand Warriors in theNRL (1999–2002) and then with theBradford Bulls in theSuper League (2003–2008). He made his Test debut forNew Zealand in the2004 Tri-Nations, and eventually appeared in 14 Tests for New Zealand. Hape switched codes in 2008, signing withBath, for whom he still plays. UnderIRB rules, he was already eligible to represent England on residency grounds, having lived there for well over the three years required to qualify. Hape made his union Test debut for England in2010 againstAustralia.

Maurie Fa'asavalu

Maurie Fa'asavalu is a Samoan rugby union player who formerly played rugby league for St Helens. He was picked in the Great Britain rugby league squad after living in England for 4 years. He also played for England in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup

Bill Hardcastle

A New Zealander and an 1897 All Black, Hardcastle journeyed to Sydney in 1899 on hearing that the visiting British rugby union team would be not be travelling to New Zealand. Australian rugby in those days had no residential rules and once he joined Sydney's Glebe RU club he qualified for Australian national selection. He was chosen forAustralia in the fourth test of 1899 against Great Britain.

In rugby league he made two Test appearances for Australia and six minor appearances on the 1908Kangaroo tour.

Va'aiga Tuigamala

Tuigamala was nicknamed 'Inga the Winger' and initially representedNew Zealand in rugby union. He then switched codes, joiningWigan in 1993. While playing league he representedWestern Samoa at the1995 World Cup. When rugby union turned professional he returned to his original code. Between 1996 and 2000 he representedSamoa in rugby union.

Lote Tuqiri

Born in Fiji, Tuqiri was a junior Australian rugby league international at age 19 in 1998. When he missed selection for Australia's2000 Rugby League World Cup squad he opted to play forFiji and captained the side in their three pool match appearances. He later played four rugby league Tests forAustralia in 2001 before his 2003 switch to union and a long international representative career in that code.

Fred Jackson

Jackson toured Australasia with the 1908 Anglo-Welsh Lions. However, during the tour he was accused of professionalism and recalled to England by theRugby Football Union. Jackson left the touring party but failed to return to England to face the accusations. In 1910 Jackson playedrugby league in New Zealand and represented bothAuckland andNew Zealand against the touringGreat Britain side.

England'sAnthony Starks and Wales'Jack Rhapps took the field in the inaugural rugby league international of 5 April 1904 betweenEngland andOther Nationalities^[78] Starks had made two rugby union Test appearances for England in 1896, and Rhapps had made a single rugby union Test appearance for Wales in 1897, and thus in April 1904 they became the world's first dual rugby code internationals.

The first tour matches played by theNew Zealand All Golds in Britain in Nov & Dec 1907 would have seen international cross-code debuts by some of the seven touring former All Blacks. At this stage of the tour the New Zealanders were still familiarising themselves with the new Northern Union rules which they had not seen until they arrived in Leeds in October.^[79] The first full international of the tour againstWales on New Year's Day 1908 saw confirmed appearances by Mackrell,^[4] Turtill, Wrigley, Johnston & Cross^[37] for New Zealand andDavid Jones^[75] for Wales. Thus New Zealand's first five dual-code rugby internationals all achieved that feat in the same match.^[37]

• First man to debut in rugby league before debuting in union –Karl Ifwersen Sep 1921^[54]
• Last man to debut in rugby league before debuting in rugby union –Marika Koroibete, October 2013
• Last man to debut in rugby union before debuting in rugby league – Tomasz Pozniak for Poland in February 2020, and before thatMirco Bergamasco, October 2016
• Most recent dual rugby code international –Mark Nawaqanitawase on 25 October 2025 for the Australian Kangaroos against theEngland national rugby league team. Tomasz Pozniak for Poland, November 2022, and before thatMarika Koroibete, September 2017

Michael Cleary represented Australia in track & field at theCommonwealth Games making him an international at the senior level in three sports.Dick Thornett achieved the same distinction having also represented for Australia inwater polo at the1960 Rome Olympics.Dai Bishop represented Wales inBritish Baseball.

• Comparison of rugby league and rugby union
• List of rugby union players who have represented more than one nation
• List of players who have converted from one football code to another
• Clash of Codes

• Whiticker, Alan (2004)Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
• Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006)The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
• Andrews, Malcolm (2006)The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
• Pollard, Jack (1984)Australian Rugby Union: The Game and the Players Angus and Robertson Publishing
• Fagan, Sean (2000–2006)[1]

• Howitt, Bob; Deaker, John (2008).The Converts: Changing Codes. HarperCollins.ISBN 9781869506360.

• Dual-code rugby internationals
• Lists of rugby league players
• Lists of international rugby union players

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