​Former Bath skipper Michael Lipman's bid to resurrect his career in Australia has been dealt a crushing blow by the Australian Rugby Union.

The ARU has said that the ex-England flanker, who grew up in Australia, does not meet the “range of criteria” set out for overseas signings and has blackballed his proposed move to new franchise the Melbourne Rebels.

Now Lipman, who played for the Australia U21s, is demanding a meeting with senior figures at the ARU, with legal action understood to be on the cards should negotiation prove fruitless.

Lipman's nine-month ban for refusing to take a drugs test in the aftermath of Bath's end-of-season party last summer expired on February 28. The Rebels offered the openside the chance to relaunch his career in Victoria after his worldwide ban for failing to take a drugs test expired on February 28.

However, the ARU has refused to grant clearanace for Lipman to play club rugby in the country where he learned the game.

The Australian newspaper today quoted an ARU spokesman as saying that the 30-year-old, who has won 10 England caps, does not meet the “range of criteria” set out for overseas signings.

Lipman said: “I’d personally like to have a meeting with (ARU chief executive) John O’Neill and (ARU high performance manager) David Nucifora and have a chat with them about this. It’s my life. It’s my career.”

The ARU’s decision has triggered accusations of double standards given the way it handled a recent similar case. Lipman’s former Bath team-mate Justin Harrison has returned from an eight-month drugs ban to play for the ACT Brumbies this season. Harrison had admitted taking cocaine during the end-of-season celebration in London.

Lipman, Alex Crockett and Andrew Higgins had charges of drug use dropped at the outset of a Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing but were banned for failing to take a test. All three have denied any wrong-doing.

Lipman admitted that the ARU’s actions had made him consider following Higgins into retirement.

“I don’t want to say I’m thinking of giving up but it has crossed my mind,” he said.

The ARU's stance has come despite Rebels coach Rod Macqueen's confidence that Lipman would be a positive influence at the club. However, it is understood that the Rebels will not be appealing against the ARU's decision.

"We want to have a side that has good character and we've talked very much about culture so we didn't take the position lightly about talking to Michael and we've spoken to a number of people about that and got some very good character references back," said Macqueen.

"The fact that he was captain gives to me an indication of the esteem he was held in. I'm not going to go into the situation of his suspension but we were satisfied from our perspective that he was the right character for the Melbourne team."

Crockett, Lipman's co-captain at Bath last season, made his comeback with Championship side Bristol at the weekend, scoring a try in their 21-16 British and Irish Cup win against Nottingham.

Higgins is now living in Paris having turned his back on the professional game.