Players throwing punches in the Four Nations and next year's World Cup won't be automatically sent to the sin bin.
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Following a brawl during Saturday's France-England Test in which at least two players stayed on the field despite throwing haymakers, the biff being back became a distinct possibility for international football.
Four Nations tournament director Jon Dutton has confirmed the punching ban first introduced during the 2014 State of Origin series would not carry across to either tournament.
"The rules we'll be playing under, the international interpretations, are very similar to Super League," Dutton told Fairfax Media.
"It's up to the referee to decide whether it's a sin bin offence or it's a penalty. It's not mandatory, no.
"The guys have all signed up to the manual, all signed up to the rules. It's the international interpretations. We'll use them here in the Four Nations and in the World Cup in '17.
"We've done some work with Andrew Hill, the CEO of the World Cup, to ensure what's played here is as close to possible to the NRL and Super League with a view to them rolling forwards in 2017.
"The differences now are small."
The news of a rollback of the strict punching ban won't just be welcomed by the bloodthirsty. Many observers believe the zero tolerance rule has led to a sharp rise in the incidence of petty niggling.
NRL players often try to provoke opponents into an offence that will see them banished for 10 minutes.
The news surprised a number of players.
"I didn't know about that," said New Zealand captain Jesse Bromwich. "They haven't [told us yet]. They'll definitely tell us at some point."
New Zealand coach David Kidwell added: "I'm across all the rules.
"I'm definitely not telling my team to go out and throw punches, that's for sure. That's not in our Kiwi culture and it definitely would not be a message that I'll be saying to my players, to throw punches out there."
On Monday a host of players and all four coaches launched the series at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium, where the final will be played on November 20.
Australia plays Scotland at Hull's Craven Park on Friday, with New Zealand meeting England on Saturday at John Smith's Stadium.
