on the availability/fitness of certain players for the Wallabies tour of the UK in late 2004, but Burke contradicted this statement by confirming his retirement and stating it was unlikely that he would play test rugby again. Burke joined the Newcastle Falcons in the English Premiership. Here he has played alongside former English rival Jonny Wilkinson (his opposite kicker in Lions tour of Australia). He has also won the 'Player of the Year' at the Falcons and was named as captain of the side. In February 2007, he obtained a British passport (while retaining Australian citizenship), qualifying through his England-born mother. His main reason for doing so was Guinness Premiership regulations prohibiting teams from having more than one non-European Union citizen on the field at any time. This enabled the Falcons to play him at the same time as New Zealand prop Joe McDonnell. In 2007, there was again brief speculation that Burke would return as starting fullback for the Wallabies in the Tri-nations and Bledisloe Cup tournament; which would lead up to the world cup. Chris Latham was recovering from knee reconstruction and Mat Rogers had since returned to Rugby League. He was even formally approached by new Wallabies coach John Connolly regarding his availability for that season. Burke rejected this, citing commitments to his Newcastle side in the UK – but did state he would consider another approach regarding the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Burke was not ultimately approached, as Latham had sufficiently recovered. Had Burke come back to play for Australia – it would have set a new precedent as the ARU have stood firm in only considering Australia-based talent for Test selection since the game went professional in 1996. Retirement In May 2008 Burke announced his immediate retirement from playing after failing to recover from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee suffered the previous October. Legacy in the game Owing to Matt Burke's lasting impact in the New South Wales jersey, the Waratahs' Player of the Year is now awarded the Matt Burke Trophy. In addition to being a leading fullback and playing with the Wallabies for over a decade, Burke's third year as New South Wales Waratahs captain saw him become the first player in the history of Waratah rugby to play over 100 games. Burke is still Australia's most capped fullback, having played 54 of his 81 Tests in that position. After