International rules football (Irish: Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as inter rules in Australia and compromise rules in Ireland) is a hybrid code of football, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players.
The first tour, known as the Australian Football World Tour, took place in 1967, with matches played in Ireland, the UK, and the United States. The following year, games were played between Australia and a touring Meath County Gaelic football team; Meath being that year's All-Ireland football champions.[1] Following intermittent international tests between Australia and Ireland, the International Rules Series between senior teams from Australia (Australian Football League) and Ireland (Gaelic Athletic Association) was played annually between 1998 and 2006, and has generally been a closely matched contest with the early series generally going to the visiting team, and later titles almost always going to the host team.
International rules football is one of few team sports or football codes in the world without any dedicated clubs or leagues. It is currently played by men's, junior's and women's teams only in tournaments or once-off test matches. In 2008 Ireland will travel to Perth in October to restart the series.
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The first games were the idea of Australian sports broadcaster and media personality Harry Beitzel, who organised a tour in October 1967 to play County Meath after Meath had won that year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The Australian team, known as the "Galahs" defeated County Meath 3-16 to 1-10 at Croke Park, and then defeated County Mayo 2-12 to 2-5. The following year, Beitzel organised a second series, the Australian Football World Tour, in which an Australian representative team went undefeated through six matches against Irish sides in London, Dublin, Meath, Kerry, and New York.[citation needed] Informal games were played intermittently from then.
The senior International Rules Series is played each October, after the completion of the AFL grand final and GAA football final, which are both played on the last weekend of September.
The Irish team is selected by the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Australian team is selected by the Australian Football League.
The series alternates host countries each year between Ireland and Australia. Since the resumption of the senior international series in 1998, the average attendance up to the conclusion of the 2006 series has been 48,199. Ireland have won seven matches, while Australia have won five, with a further two being drawn. The 2006 series sold out both matches in Ireland and set a record for international sports in Ireland with a crowd of 82,127 at Croke Park.
Following controversies in the 2006 series, including an Irish player being knocked unconscious in a tackle, the Irish team coach and GAA president again cast doubts on the future of the series. The AFL's chief, however expressed optimism. The two organisations agreed to meet to once again discuss the series.
THE International Rules series will resume this winter after the Australians confirmed two dates for test matches Down Under in late October.
The test dates are October 24 in Perth and October 31 in Melbourne.
The AFL initially offered to play just one game this season because they were having trouble finding dates, but the GAA would not agree to travel unless it involved two games.
These matches will mark the resumption of the series which was abandoned after the ill-discipline that marred it when last played in Ireland in 2006. Sean Boylan, who managed the Irish team then, was highly critical of the Australians, but will be charge again this year.
| Country | Series won | Test matches won 1 | Points scored |
|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
7 | 14 | 1,681 |
 Ireland |
6 | 14 | 1,664 |
1 Two draws (second test 1999, second test 2002).
Among the first schoolboys international test was played in Melbourne in 1983, when a Victorian under 17 team played Ireland. An interesting twist in these compromise matches is that the ball used was the oval shaped Australian football rather than the round ball.[2]
In 2005, in addition to the annual senior international series, Australia and Ireland began to play an under 19 and under 17 contest. Australia won the 2006 series.[3] The junior series was largely instituted by both leagues as a means to identify emerging talent.
The Australian Amateur Football Council has an amateur All-Australian team to Ireland in both 2005 and 2008.
Ladies' Gaelic football has been growing almost exponentially in Ireland since the 1970s with over 100,000 women and girls playing in 2006 and figures expected to reach 150,000 by 2010. Women's footy has far fewer players, but numbers have grown strongly since the 1990s. In early 2006 representatives of the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association and Women's Australian Football Leagues met at a Ladies' Gaelic football festival in Singapore, and agreed to compete in the hybrid version of the two football codes to coincide with the senior men's series.
The first test of the first ever women's series took place in Breffni Park, Cavan on 31 October 2006, with Ireland gaining a comfortable victory over their Australian counterparts. The final score of 6-26-16 (130) to 1-2-3 (15) provided a 115 point winning margin to the home side. The Australian team declined an offer to use an oval ball in the second test to liven up the series.[4] The first and second tests were broadcast live on Irish channel TG4, as part of its 10th birthday celebrations; it was also broadcast in Australia on Setanta Sports. The second test was held on 4 November at Parnell Park, Dublin, and was won by Ireland by a scoreline of 3-5-6 (39) to 0-4-6 (18).
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The rules are designed to provide a compromise between those of the two codes, with Gaelic footballers being advantaged by the use of a round ball and a rectangular field (Australian rules uses an oval ball and field), while the Australian rules football players benefit from the opportunity to tackle between the shoulders and thighs, something banned in Gaelic football. The game also introduces the concept of the mark, from Australian rules football, with a free kick paid for any ball caught from a kick of over 15 metres.
The game uses two large posts and two small posts, as in Australian rules, and a crossbar and goal net as in Gaelic football.
Points are scored as follows:
Scores are written so as to clarify how many of each type of score were made as well as, like Australian football, giving the total points score for each team; for example, if a team scores one goal, four overs and 10 behinds, the score is written as 1-4-10 (28), meaning one goal (six points) plus 4 overs (4 × 3 = 12 points) plus 10 behinds (10 × 1 = 10 points), for a total score of 28 points.
An international rules match lasts for 72 minutes (divided into four quarters of 18 minutes each). Gaelic football matches also go for 70 minutes, divided into two halves, and Australian rules matches typically go for 4 quarters of 30 minutes each (while the official duration varies between 15 and 25 minutes depending on the league, for AFL it is 20 minutes).
As in Gaelic football, teams consist of fifteen players, including a goalkeeper, whereas eighteen are used in Australian rules (with no keeper).
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A number of rule changes were introduced before the 2006 International Rules Series:
International Rules is played in various locations throughout North America and the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, Australia and New Zealand between fledgling Australian rules football and Gaelic football clubs.
In 2006, an exhibition match between South African youth teams and an Indigenous Australian touring side composed of players from the Clontarf Foundation, led by Sydney's Adam Goodes, was held at Potchefstroom.
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