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Ireland vs Australia International Rules highlights: Irish hold on after three first-half goals

Expert
21st November, 2015
Time: 5:30am AEDT
Location: Croke Park, Dublin
Head-to-head: Ireland 20, Australia 17, drawn 2
Betting: Australia $1.40, Ireland $3
TV: 7mate, live

Australia
Coach: Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn)
Luke Hodge (c) (Hawthorn), Dustin Fletcher (gk) (Essendon), Hayden Ballantyne (Fremantle), Eddie Betts (Adelaide), Grant Birchall (Hawthorn), Luke Breust (Hawthorn), Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Andrew Gaff (West Coast), Brendon Goddard (Essendon), Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide), Dyson Heppell (Essendon), Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn), Leigh Montagna (St Kilda), David Mundy (Fremantle), Robert Murphy (Western Bulldogs), Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda), Tom Rockliff (Brisbane Lions), Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn), Nick Smith (Sydney Swans), Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs), Harry Taylor (Geelong), Easton Wood (Western Bulldogs)

Ireland
Coach: Joe Kernan (Armagh)
Bernard Brogan (c) (Dublin), Lee Keegan (vc) (Mayo), Niall Morgan (gk) (Tyrone), Colm Begley (Laois), Gary Brennan (Clare), Eoin Cadogan (Cork), Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone), Eoin Doyle (Kildare), Peter Harte (Tyrone), Darren Hughes (Monaghan), Paul Kerrigan (Cork), Jack McCaffrey (Dublin), Ciaran McDonald (Tipperary), Phillip McMahon (Dublin), Conor McManus (Monaghan), Rory O'Carroll (Dublin), John O'Loughlin (Laois), Aidan O'Shea (Mayo), Michael Quinn (Longford), Donnchadh Walsh (Kerry), Diarmuid Connolly (Dublin), Paul Cribbin (Kildare), Paddy McBrearty (Donegal)
What would a federated domestic 'football' look like? (Chris Brown/flickr)
Expert
21st November, 2015
112
9467 Reads

Match result:

Ireland have survived an almighty comeback effort from Australia to win the International Rules Test at Croke Park in Dublin, and take back the Cormac McAnallen Cup.

REPORT: IRISH OUTCLASS AUSSIES

The Irish took control of the game early and kicked three goals in the first half that would ultimately prove crucial as they took a 20-point lead into the half-time break.

Aidan O’Shea kicked their first two goals in play while Conor McManus kicked the third from a penalty given away by Luke Hodge.

Australia looked sluggish in the first half – struggling with the round ball, and very poor in their defense in front of goal.

Perhaps, in retrospect, a week spent holidaying in New York was not the ideal preparation for the Australian side.

In the second half however, Australia got a bit more involved, and did the majority of the attacking. They had brought the margin back to 11 points by the final change.

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A goal from Eddie Betts – with assistance from Jarryd Roughead – was very nearly a match-winner as it put Australia just three points down with a few minutes left.

In the end though Australia weren’t able to bridge the gap, and a late behind from Irish captain Bernard Brogan sealed the win for Ireland.

Harry Taylor was named the Jim Stynes Medallist as Australia’s best player, while Brogan won the GAA Medal as the best on ground for Ireland.

Final score
Ireland 3.11.5 – 56
Australia 1.13.7 – 52

Match preview:

Ireland host Australia at Croke Park as the two nations meet once again in the combined sport of International Rules. Join The Roar for a live blog of the game from 5:30am (AEDT).

For the second year in a row Australia will send an extremely strong side to Dublin after making the decision last year that only players with All-Australian honours would be allowed to represent their country at the event.

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International Rules, essentially, is a combination of Aussie Rules football and GAA football, played by representative teams of AFL and GAA players.

Like GAA football, it’s played on a rectangular field, using a spherical ball. But like Aussie Rules, there is full-on tackling, and marking of the ball.

The scoring system takes a little from both – essentially each end will have the four posts common to Aussie Rules, but with a netted crossbar between the middle two, as in GAA.

A goal is when the ball passes under the crossbar through any means, and is worth six points. However goals are relatively rare.

The most common form of scoring is an ‘over’, which is exactly what it sounds like, kicking the ball through the middle posts, over the crossbar. That’s worth three points.

It’s also possible to score behinds – a single point – as in Aussie Rules, if the ball goes across the line between the outer posts, for any reason.

The Australian side is full of talent, with a distinctly Hawthorn theme at the top – Luke Hodge is the captain, Alastair Clarkson the coach, and Sam Mitchell also in the leadership group.

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The most experienced player in the side – both in terms of AFL and International Rules – is goalkeeper Dustin Fletcher.

Fletcher retired this season from the AFL after becoming one of just four players in history to play 400 VFL/AFL games – this International Rules Test will be his last hurrah after injury denied him a farewell game.

Bulldogs Easton Wood and Jake Stringer are new additions to the team, as is Fremantle’s David Mundy and West Coat’s Andrew Gaff with all four having been named All-Australian for the first time this year.

The Irish team is lead by Dublin’s Bernard Brogan, who is widely regarded as the best forward in the GAA, and will be coached by Joe Kernan, known for coaching Armagh to their first All-Ireland Championship in 2002.

One player to watch out for from Ireland is Conor McManus, who proved a headache for the Aussies in the Test in Perth last year. He has scored 41 points in three International Rules appearances.

The Irish have decided not to field AFL-listed Irishmen this year, which means the likes of Pearce Hanley and Zach Tuohy will not feature, but some fans might recognise Colm Begley, who played 30 AFL games for Brisbane and St Kilda before returning home in 2009.

Who will win it? Australia proved too good last time but did have the home ground advantage.

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The Irish have a few advantanges. For one, the game uses the round ball, with which they are intimately more familiar.

Ireland’s ability to score goals will also be a factor in their favour. AFL players just aren’t used to the goal-under-the-crossbar set up and last year went goalless while Ireland managed two.

However Australia does have some advantages of their own. One is that the game allows tackling as in the AFL – between the shoulders and thighs – something GAA footballers are not used to. That’s not any slight on the courage or toughness of the Irish, of course, but Australia’s tackling pressure is something they will have to adapt to quickly in order to win.

And of course, the big one is that AFL footballers are professional footballers, while the GAA – for all its prominence – is technically amateur. If the going gets tough, AFL footballers may have just a little more gas in the tank.

Ireland however will be keen to avenge their loss last year and have a positive record in the sport overall, so there’s not a huge distinction. It could go either way.

Prediction
The Aussies should win this one but it’s not beyond doubt.

Australia by 8.

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Join The Roar for a live blog of the game from 5:30am (AEDT).

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