Lote Tuqiri will not be staying at Welford Road next season after agreeing to sign for Australian Rugby League outfit the Wests Tigers.

The 30-year-old Wallaby winger arrived at Leicester in November as an injury dispensation for Tigers skipper Geordan Murphy, and was set to leave at the end of his short-term contract in March.

Both Tuqiri and Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill had hinted in the last month that there could be a chance the Australian international might extend his stay.But Leicester would have had to do some serious wheeling and dealing within the salary cap to afford Tuqiri's reported wages of £20,000 a month.

The lure of warm weather and a return to the code in which he began his career were also a major factor.

Tuqiri is unable to return to rugby union Down Under after his contract with the Australian Rugby Union was controversially torn up following a series of misdemeanours.

Negotiations between the Sydney-based Wests Tigers and Tuqiri have been going on for more than six months and I understand they have finally got their man.

The former Waratah will join other high-profile Aussie defectors Wendell Sailor and Mat Rogers in returning to league after extended stints playing union.

Wests Tigers begin their campaign at home to the Raiders on the weekend beginning March 13. But Tuqiri could miss that if Tigers are still targeting LV= Cup glory with the final of that competition not until March 20.

Cockerill said they would love to have kept Tuqiri, who he said had "surprised himself" by how much he was enjoying the set-up at Leicester.

The veteran of 67 Tests admitted three weeks ago that he was enjoying family life in rural Leicestershire and being out of the limelight.

"In the past, I would have thought a lot more about my career," he said. "But there comes a time when you have to think about the family."

Tigers head of operations Simon Cohen said the club always faced an uphill battle tying Tuqiri to a longer deal under the restrictions of the English salary cap.

"If that (injury) dispensation is not available for next year, it is going to be very difficult to find the money to keep him," he said.

Cockerill said on Tuesday that if Tuqiri was to follow fellow winger Johne Murphy out of Welford Road this summer, the club would "look to replace both men".