NEW York City Knights signing Tabua Cakacaka will not be allowed to play for Fiji in his country's forthcoming rugby league World Cup qualifiers - despite having flown to Australia for the games.

Similarly, Knights forward Dave Buckley will miss out on playing for Ireland next month, having only just been included in the squad.

Both players have been given suspensions by Rugby Football League disciplinary chiefs, and it has been confirmed these bans include international matches.

Prop Cakacaka was given a three-match suspension after being sent off for punching Featherstone's Nathan Larvin in Gateshead's play-off defeat, his last appearance for Thunder.

This rules him out of Fiji's Pacific Islands zone World Cup qualifiers against Samoa tomorrow, Tonga on Wednesday, and Cook Islands a week on Saturday. All the games are in Australia, and Cakacaka flew Down Under last week.

Buckley, 24, qualifies to play for Ireland through his grandparents and holds an Irish passport. He had only just been included in the Ireland squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon and Russia in October and November, but must now wait to make his international debut after being given a two-match ban. He was sent off for a late, high tackle on Aaron Heremaia in the Knights' last game of the season at Leigh.