New Zealand rugby league fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck said on Saturday he would be switching to rugby union at the end of the year in a bid to play for the All Blacks at the 2023 World Cup.
A pacy and elusive runner, Samoan-born Tuivasa-Sheck is a former New Zealand rugby union schoolboy international but has played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for eight years.
The 27-year-old won the NRL title in 2015 with the Sydney Roosters and the Dally M medal as the league's best player in 2018 with his current club the New Zealand Warriors.
"This will be my last year with the club and yes, I will be moving to NZ rugby next year," Tuivasa-Sheck told a news conference on Saturday.
"Rugby has been the game I've grown up playing. It's always been there in the background. It's always been there, it's no secret."
Tuivasa-Sheck said he would play out one more NRL season as captain of the Warriors before making the move to rugby union.
"It's tough because I've poured a lot into this club so hopefully we can finish off on a high," he said.
Despite his obvious talent, Tuivasa-Sheck faces a stiff challenge if he is to become a dual code New Zealand rugby international before 2023.
Only Sonny Bill Williams - a forward in league and a back in union - has successfully managed the transition over the last 20 years, helping the All Blacks to World Cup triumphs in 2011 and 2015.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by William Mallard)
