Leicester Tigers are considering West Tigers request to release dual international Lote Tuqiri in time for round one of the NRL.

West Tigers have asked the English rugby union club to bring an early end to Tuqiri's contract, which expires at the end of March even though the northern hemisphere season runs until the end of May.

A spokesman for Leicester Tigers said no decision had been reached, but confirmed the clubs were in talks about the possibility of an early release.

Leicester are out of Europe's Heineken Cup and the Anglo-Welsh LV Cup competition, leaving only the English Guinness Premiership where they are top of the table.

That means they have only two fixtures in March falling within Tuqiri's contract period, against London Irish on March 6th and Worcester Warriors on March 27th.