International Rules Series
Ireland 58 Australia 65
Australia struck the first blow of the International Rules Series when they defeated Ireland 65-58 at a rain swept Croke Park this afternoon.
In a fractious game, which saw two major brawling incidents, the visitors came back strongly in the third quarter to dominate the latter part of the match.
Australia trailed by 38 points to 19 at half-time after Ireland looked in complete control in the opening two quarters.
However, the Australians came out fighting, (literally in some cases) in the final two phases, producing some fluent and aggressive football to overwhelm their opponents.
Ireland will seek to eradicate their seven point deficit when both sides meet again in the second and final test next Sunday. The Series is played as a hybrid of the Gaelic Football and Australian Rules disciplines.