INTERNATIONAL RULES: GAA president Seán McCague has vowed to pull the plug on the International Rules project should the foul play that marred Sunday's first Test be repeated in next weekend's second test.

"There will be no series if it deteriorates into indiscipline," he told media at Croke Park yesterday.

"I wouldn't want it to tarnish the image of the game. There were a couple of very bad incidents and they shouldn't be there, but I wouldn't say that the game was along the lines of some of the mayhem we used to have when all the players joined in, but obviously some deliberately got involved in fighting."

Since the resumption of the international series four years ago discipline has improved greatly on the pioneering days back in the 1980s when lengthy mass brawls regularly punctuated matches.

Sunday's incidents weren't a throwback to those days, but off-the-ball fighting and occasional brawling broke out and two players, Ireland's Evan Kelly and Australia's David Neitz, were sin-binned. Nonetheless McCague said that he was happy with the recent trend in the game.

"I was very pleased and thought that last year we turned the corner and the emphasis was totally on the sporting aspect. Any going back on that is disappointing. I'm not taking it out of proportion, but it was a regression and I saw one player leaving the pitch with a visible blood injury. That has no place either on television being watched by children or in any sporting occasion."

The series Control Committee will meet this week, tomorrow or Thursday, to review the video evidence and take whatever action is deemed necessary. Last year Ireland selector Paddy Clarke received a five-match ban for abusing Australian referee Brett Allen.

"I'd expect the Control Committee to be very stern with the incidents that happened," added McCague, "and for the message to go out loud and clear to all the players that there is no place in this for dirty play."

He was also asked whether the Australians were aware that he viewed the upcoming second Test as critical to the future of the series.

"The chief executive of the AFL (Wayne Jackson) is quite sure of my views - because we've expressed them - that we would not enter into another four-year period with them unless we had a guarantee that the emphasis was totally on the sporting.

"He's aware of that. When they return from their break in the west we'll be talking to them before the game next week and the message will be quite clear and I'm sure he'll be equally emphatic that he doesn't want the series to deteriorate."

Meanwhile, Ireland manager John O'Keeffe will be relieved to hear that progress has been made in addressing the problem of club fixtures next weekend conflicting with the second test.

After representations from GAA president McCague, it was announced yesterday evening that provincial councils had extended the deadlines for the relevant championships.

Dublin have been given an extra week to conclude their county football championship, as have Galway. This frees a number of players who had been in danger of double booking this weekend.

Ray Cosgrove (Kilmacud), Kieran McGeeney (Na Fianna), Ciaran McManus and Cormac McAnallen (UCD) were due out in the Dublin championship, whereas Joe Bergin (Mountbellew-Moylough) was scheduled to play in Galway.

Wicklow's senior hurling final replay between Carnew and St Patrick's of Wicklow town goes ahead on Saturday (3.30 p.m.) despite a strike by the majority of the county's referees.

Last Wednesday, some 15 referees signed a declaration that they were withdrawing their services in protest over the decision of Wicklow's Fixtures Committee to bring in outside referees for the senior football and hurling finals.

John Bannon from Longford was brought in last Sunday to referee the senior football final in which champions Rathnew beat Baltinglass, while Dublin's Aodhan MacSuibhne has again been put in charge of the hurling final replay after refereeing the drawn game nine days ago.

The striking referees have been angered by the decision to use outside referees as they see the move as a slight on their performance.

It is going to be a busy weekend for either Carnew or St Patrick's as the winners will o travel to Portlaoise the next day to take on Laois champions Castletown in the first round of the Leinster championship.