SYDNEY - Wallabies winger Nick Cummins has signed with Japanese team Coca Cola West Red Sparks for next season making him ineligible for the 2015 World Cup, reports said on Friday.
Wallabies winger Nick Cummins, shown in November 2013, has signed with Japanese team Coca Cola West Red Sparks for next season making him ineligible for the 2015 World Cup, reports say
The shaggy-haired Cummins, a cult figure known as the "Honey Badger", is among several Wallabies, including forwards Ben Mowen and Kane Douglas, who have opted to go overseas before the World Cup in England.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has already shown he will only select home-based players for the tournament.
The Australian newspaper reported that Cummins had signed for the Fukuoka-based club and that the move was confirmed by the Japanese Rugby Union on Friday.
Cummins, 26, has played 15 Tests for the Wallabies since making his debut against Argentina in Rosario in 2012 and has been a mainstay of the Western Force backline since 2008.
Cummins started in all three of the Wallabies' clean sweep of France last month.