Burke becomes Brit

Burke, whose mother was born in England, will now be able to play for his club Newcastle Falcons as an EU-qualified player.

Under Premiership regulations, clubs can only field one non-EU qualified player, and the Falcons will now be able to name Burke and Kiwi prop Joe McDonnell in the same team.

The move will not allow him to play for England.

"The opportunity arose for me to help out the Falcons, who have been so good to me during my time over here, and with mum being born in England we decided to explore the options further," explained Burke, who has a 1999 World Cup winner's medal.

"Under English rugby rules only one foreign player can be on the field for a team at any one time, so having gone through the process now it gives the Falcons more options in terms of selecting their side each week.

"Everyone at the club has been very kind and they have been joking about buying me a pair of Union Jack boxer shorts."

Burke moved to Newcastle two-and-a-half years ago from the NSW Waratahs and lives in Gosforth with his wife Kate and two daughters.

"To go through such a lengthy and complicated bureaucratic process speaks volumes of Matt and the type of bloke he is," Newcastle director of rugby John Fletcher said.

"Him becoming a British citizen helps the club massively because it allows us to field both him and Joe McDonnell - two of our strongest players - at the same time.

"The other upside is also the amount of abuse it enables us to give Burkey - now that he's a Pom - but he's taken it all in good spirit in fairness to him."