Meath marksman Trevor Giles has become the latest big-name to be ruled out of Ireland's International Rules squad after suffering a recurrence of his long-standing groin injury in a club match.
Having already lost the services of Ciaran Whelan, Peter Canavan, Daragh O'Se and Seamus Moynihan, Ireland manager John O'Keefe must now contend without the star half-forward for the two Test series in Australia.
Dublin's Shane Ryan has been called into the squad to replace Giles ahead of next Friday's first Test in Perth. The travelling party are due to leave Dublin tomorrow en-route to the Western Australian capital, where they hope to regain the title after losing both matches in Dublin last Autumn.
Meanwhile, GAA president, Sean Kelly, today confirmed that the final of the 2003 Inter-Provincial Hurling Championship will be played in Rome.The game, on November 8th, will be played at the Giulio Onesti sports complex and will be the highest profile GAA game ever to be played in continental Europe.