Tuqiri, 22, has played five Tests for the Australia rugby league team and before that he captained the Fijian team at the 2000 World Cup.

Tuqiri, whose parents moved to Brisbane when he was a child, said after scoring a try in the Kangaroos’ demolition of Great Britain last Friday that he would make a decision one way or the other by today.

He kept to his word and the 64-10 defeat of the Lions will be his last game of representative rugby league.

Over the next few weeks, Tuqiri plans to hold talks with all three of the Australian Super 12 franchises. But for now he is happy to have just made up his mind after weeks of soul-searching.

‘‘Rugby offers me an enormous challenge,’’ he said.

‘‘I have set my sights on playing for the Wallabies in next year’s World Cup. It will be a tremendous challenge trying to make the Wallaby squad in such a short time, but I have always had an interest in rugby union.

‘‘My father played international rugby union for Fiji and I am very proud of that.’’

Wallaby coach Eddie Jones is confident that Tuqiri, a record points scorer for Queensland in the recent State of Origin series against New South Wales, will make a smooth transition to union.

‘‘He is a very good rugby league player and I am sure he will have no trouble,’’ he said.

‘‘But he has a lot of learning to do and the first thing will be to become a consistent Super 12 player for whichever side he decides to play for.

‘‘The signing of Lote is very positive because he has come for the right reasons. It’s not an issue of money - at the end of the day he has come for the challenge of playing our game and the chance to appear in the international arena.’’