International rules football

For the senior men's competition between the AFL and GAA, see International Rules Series.
International Rules Football

An international rules football match at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between Australia and Ireland
Highest governing body Australian Football League
Gaelic Athletic Association
Nicknames IR, Inter rules, Compromise rules
First played 1967 (Australian Football World Tour)
Characteristics
Contact Yes
Team members 15
Mixed gender Single (Male Only at Elite Level)
Type Outdoor
Equipment Football
Presence
Olympic No

International rules football (Irish: Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as inter rules in Australia and compromise rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, 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 United Kingdom, and the United States. The following year, games were played between Australia and a touring County Meath Gaelic football team, Meath being the reigning All-Ireland senior football champions.[1] Following intermittent international tests between Australia and Ireland, the International Rules Series between the senior Australian international rules football team and Ireland international rules football team has been played annually since 1998 (except for the cancelled 2007 edition), and has generally been a closely matched contest. The sport has raised interest and exposure in developing markets for Gaelic and Australian football and has been considered a development tool by governing bodies of both codes, particularly by the AFL Commission.

International rules football does not have any dedicated clubs or leagues. It is currently played by men's, women's, and junior teams only in tournaments or Test matches.

Rules

The rules are designed to provide a compromise between those of the two codes, with Gaelic football players 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 awarded for a ball caught from a kick of over 20 metres, where the kick must be in the forward direction if originating from a teammate. [2]

A player must bounce, solo or touch the ball on the ground once every 10 metres or six steps.[2] A maximum of two bounces per possession are allowed, while players can solo the ball as often as they wish on a possession.[2] Unlike in Gaelic football, the ball may be lifted directly off the ground, without putting a foot underneath it first.[2] Players however cannot scoop the ball off the ground to a team-mate, nor pick up the ball if they are on their knees or on the ground.[2] If a foul is committed, a free kick will be awarded, referees (called umpires in Australian Rules) can give the fouled player advantage to play on at their discretion.[2]

Scoring in International rules football

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).[2] Inter-county Gaelic football matches go on for 70 minutes, divided into two halves, and Australian rules matches consists of four 20 minutes quarters of game time, although with the addition of stoppage time, most quarters actually last between 25 and 30 minutes.

As in Gaelic football, teams consist of fifteen players, including a goalkeeper, whereas eighteen are used in Australian rules (with no keeper).

2006 rule changes

A number of rule changes were introduced before the 2006 International Rules Series:

2008 rule changes

2014 rule changes

Women's

While ladies' Gaelic football has been growing almost exponentially since the 1970s, Women's Australian rules football has far fewer players, though 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 2006 Women's Series has been the only series to take place.

2006 Women's Series
Date Teams Stadium Location Attendance
31 October 2006 Ireland 6.26.16 (134) def. Australia 1.2.3 (15) Breffni Park Cavan [6][7]
4 November 2006 Ireland 3.5.6 (39) def. Australia 0.4.6 (18) Parnell Park Dublin [7]

Juniors

Among the first schoolboys' international tests was that 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.[8]

An official junior series at Under-17 level has been played in alternate nations since the early 2000s. Ireland completed a hat-trick of series wins from 2003–2005 before Australia won the junior series for 2006. The junior series was largely instituted by both leagues as a means to identify emerging talent. It has since been abandoned.

2005 Junior Series
Date Result Venue Location Age Notes
2005 Game 1 Ireland 73 def. Australia 32 Crossmaglen, County Armagh U/17 [9]
2005 Game 2 Ireland 44 def. by Australia 56 Dublin, County Dublin U/17 [9]
2005 Game 3 Ireland 39 def. Australia 31 Killarney, County Kerry U/17 [9]

Australian player of the series: Joel Selwood
Irish player of the series: Ray Cullivan

2006 Junior Series
Date Result Venue Location Age Notes
2006 Game 1 Australia 0.11.6 (39) drew.
Ireland 2.7.6 (39) 		Docklands Stadium, Melbourne U/17 [10]
2006 Game 2 Australia 1.6.11 (35) drew.
Ireland 3.4.5 (35) 		Football Park, Adelaide U/17 [10]
2006 Game 3 Australia 2.6.15 (45) def.
Ireland 1.6.6 (30) 		Fremantle Oval, Perth U/17 [11]

Irish player of the series: Kevin Nolan
Australian player of the series: Bryce Gibbs

Amateurs

The Australian Amateur Football Council has sent an amateur Under-23 All-Australian team to Ireland in both 2005 and 2008. The Australian amateur team wore a different jersey to the AFL representative side, dark green and gold, with a kangaroo emblem. Recently, the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) has sent a squad of players sourced from the top six divisions of its competition to tour Ireland and play various clubs and representative teams.[12]

Amateur matches
Date Teams Stadium Location Attendance Notes
2005 AAFC (U-23) 17 def. by Ireland GAA 105 Croke Park Dublin, County Dublin N/A [13]
2005 AAFC (U-23) 30 def. by All-Ireland Universities 34 University Grounds National University of Ireland, Galway N/A [13]
2005 AAFC (U-23) 74 def. Irish Banks/Allied Forces 52 Pearse Stadium Galway, County Galway N/A [13]
2005 AAFC (U-23) 53 def. Bishopstown GAA 47 Bishopstown GAA Club Cork County Cork N/A [13]
2008 AAFC (U-23) 46 def. Bishopstown GAA 39 Bishopstown GAA Club Cork, County Cork [14]
2008 AAFC (U-23) 55 def. by Donaghmore Ashbourne 60 Killegland West Ashbourne, County Meath 2,500 [14]
2008 Sydney AFL 43 def. NSW GAA 42 Mahoney Park Marrickville, New South Wales [15]
2011 VAFA 28 def. Donaghmore Ashbourne 26 Killegland West Ashbourne, County Meath [12]
2011 VAFA 7 def. by Ireland GAA 81 Croke Park Dublin, County Dublin [12]
2013 VAFA 102 def. Na Piarsaigh 16 Páirc Uí Chonaire Cork City, County Cork [16]
2013 VAFA 0.10.9 (39) def. by
Combined Dublin Universities 4.10.3 (57) 		St Vincent's GAA Club Marino, Dublin, County Dublin [17]

Masters

International rules also has a masters category with several competitions. There is also a Masters International Rules Series which follows the format of the senior men's series and involves many retired Australian Rules and Gaelic Football players.

International rules football around the world

The 2014 International Rules match at the University of Birmingham

International rules is played in various locations throughout North America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and 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.

The University of Birmingham, UK, holds an annual International Rules match between its Australian Rules football team and its Gaelic Football team, with the 2013 edition won by the Australian Rules team 56–55, before a crowd of over 400 students.[18]

See also

References

External links

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