When and where?
Saturday, 21 November.
Croke Park, 7pm.
How can I watch or listen?
RTÉ2, RTÉ Radio 1 and GAAGO will broadcast the game LIVE.
Users abroad will also be able to watch the Test in high definition on their desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile device using GAAGO, the Association’s global match streaming service in partnership with RTÉ Digital.
Teams
AUSTRALIA
Luke Hodge (c) (Hawthorn), Dustin Fletcher (gk) (Essendon), Hayden Ballantyne (Fremantle), Eddie Betts (Adelaide), Grant Birchall (Hawthorn), Luke Breust (Hawthorn), Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Andrew Gaff (West Coast), Brendon Goddard (Essendon), Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide), Dyson Heppell (Essendon), Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn), Leigh Montagna (St Kilda), David Mundy (Fremantle), Robert Murphy (Western Bulldogs), Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda), Tom Rockliff (Brisbane Lions), Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn), Nick Smith (Sydney Swans), Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs), Harry Taylor (Geelong), Easton Wood (Western Bulldogs)
Coach: Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn)
IRELAND
Bernard Brogan (c) (Dublin), Lee Keegan (vc) (Mayo), Niall Morgan (gk) (Tyrone), Colm Begley (Laois), Gary Brennan (Clare), Eoin Cadogan (Cork), Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone), Eoin Doyle (Kildare), Peter Harte (Tyrone), Darren Hughes (Monaghan), Paul Kerrigan (Cork), Jack McCaffrey (Dublin), Ciaran McDonald (Tipperary), Phillip McMahon (Dublin), Conor McManus (Monaghan), Rory O’Carroll (Dublin), John O’Loughlin (Laois), Aidan O’Shea (Mayo), Michael Quinn (Longford), Donnchadh Walsh (Kerry), Diarmuid Connolly (Dublin), Paul Cribbin (Kildare), Paddy McBrearty (Donegal)
Coach: Joe Kernan (Armagh)
How each country picks its team
AUSTRALIA
Hawthorn’s four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson takes charge of the Aussies for the second straight time following last year’s convincing win in Perth. Australia has retained the selection policy that helped it win last year’s Test, selecting only players who have received All Australian honours during their careers.
Dustin Fletcher passed a fitness test in September to contest in his fifth IR series, while 14 members of the successful 2014 team are back again. Chad Wingard was a late withdrawal with a knee injury, replaced by Hayden Ballantyne.
IRELAND
After a two-year stint for former manager Paul Earley, the GAA opted for 2002 All-Ireland winning Armagh manager Joe Kernan to lead the Irish.
In all, there are 12 counties from across all four provinces represented in the match day 23 and the county breakdown is Dublin (5), Tyrone (3), Laois, Kildare, Cork, Monaghan, Mayo (2 each), Clare, Tipperary, Longford, Kerry and Donegal (1 each).
Footballer of the Year Jack McCaffrey is one of 9 newly-crowned Allstars named in Kernan’s squad, captained by Dublin’s Bernard Brogan.
For the first time since 2005, Ireland has decided to not select AFL players, meaning the likes of Brisbane Lion Pearce Hanley and Carlton’s Zach Tuohy will be not be involved.
The game in a nutshell
The International Rules game is 15-a-side with eight interchange players. It is played in four 18-minute quarters.
A goal (worth six points) is scored when the ball is kicked or knocked into the net.
Sending the ball over the crossbar and between the uprights is an ‘over’, worth three points, while a behind is just like Australian football – worth one point and kicked between the goal and point posts.
Here’s a snapshot of the rules:
• If the ball hits a post and bounces back into play, it’s play on.
• When the ball goes out of the rectangular field (145m x 90m), there are no boundary throw-ins. A free kick is awarded against the team that last touched the ball.
• You can’t pick up the ball or drag it in when you’re on your knees.
• The ball must be bounced every 10m on a solo run – with a two-bounce maximum.
• Tackles can only be between the thighs and shoulders, while shirtfronts (frontal charge) and shepherds (the act of legally pushing, bumping or blocking an opposing player from gaining possession of the ball or reaching the contest) are outlawed.
• AFL-style handpasses are permitted, but only four in succession before a player must kick.
• The referee is also permitted to give yellow cards (10 minutes off the pitch) or red cards (sent off for the rest of the game) depending on the extent of a misdemeanour.
History
Including all series from 1984, Ireland and Australia are deadlocked heading for Croke Park.
Ireland have won 9 series, as have Australia, but the Irish have won 20 test matches compared to Australia’s 17.
Ireland have scored a total of 2,212 points, ahead of Australia’s combined tally of 2,069.
- Biggest series win (1998–2014): 101 points, 2013, Ireland 173 – 72 Australia
- Biggest test win (1998–2014): 79 points, second test 2013, Ireland 116 – 37 Australia
- Closest series (1998–2014): 5 points, 2008, Australia 97–102 Ireland
- Highest-scoring test (1998–2014): 164 points, first test 2005, Australia 100–64 Ireland
- Lowest-scoring test (1998–2014): 84 points, second test 2002, Ireland 42–42 Australia
- Highest attendance (1998–2014): 82,127, Croke Park, second test 2006
- Highest attendance (1984–1990): 32,318, Croke Park, third test 1984
- Lowest attendance (1998–2014): 12,545, Metricon Stadium, second test 2011
- Lowest attendance (1984–1990): 7,000, Bruce Stadium, second test 1990
- Average attendance (1998–2014): 42,898
- Average attendance (1984–1990): 33,648
- Record point scorer: Steven McDonnell (Ireland & Armagh), 118 points
Additional information from the AFL.
Didnt relaize he wss crippled, did they stop in lourdes on the way home , ffs 12 years later and still going on about it
@ger gavin: The Kiwi’s make a much bigger deal out of it than even the Irish do. It’s because they know they were in the wrong, but because they won’t apologise for it they just keep denying any wrongdoing.
@Dave Barry: the kiwis make a big deal out of it as it’s their national sport. They admit openly it was a bad tackle but to say it was intentional is hard to believe. As an ex rugby player, it’s very difficult to tackle someone nevermind intentionally hurt them.
Just another All Black ‘accident’. All respect done for these thugs who seem to not be able to win big games anymore without these ‘accidents’ After the Irish game where the last 3 ‘accidents’ happened, World Rugby came and strengthened the rules. Why? If they were just accidents.
@Range Rover: My reading of it at the time is the same as it is now. They went out to target O’Driscoll, not to injure him, but to “lay down a marker.” I know any kiwi will deny it, but he was the captain, it was two minutes in and he was barely involved in the ruck. We weren’t born yesterday. The thing that left a bad taste in my mouth wasn’t what happened on the pitch, it was the lack of response from the authorities. Accidental or deliberate, a spear tackle is illegal. The IRB were, as always, deaf, dumb and blind where their golden boys are concerned however.
Let’s stop calling these guys the all blacks. They are new Zealand. Calling them the all blacks puts them up on a pedestal. The Australians never defer to them like that. I’m no lover of the lions but Nz need to be beaten. When they put on that Jersey the kiwis think they are above the law. They spear tackle o Driscoll and it galvanised them! Piss off
@Paul K Murphy: not sure about that, whatever the scenario calling them New Zealand is a step down from the All Blacks. Which tells it own story about the deliberate mystique perpetuated over the ages about this team with supposed superhuman qualities.
Anything that eats into that illusion is a good thing for me. They get enough psychological advantage from the haka, what we call them then is our own choice and the more down to earth the better
@Paul K Murphy: the problem is that rugby at test level to use the old cliche is a game of incredibly fine margins. So any advantage no matter how small is worthy of serious consideration. Enough for Australia and the lions in 2005 to decide against calling them the All Blacks anyway.
How effective those bans were is debatable. The lions obviously got blown away but you would have to say Australia excelled against them in the 2015 WC final. And who knows in that moment in time in the build up to the final maybe that was of some psychological help for them
@Aaron Buckley: they’re a bunch off shameless cheats….let’s just turn them over first
It was wrong. But I think people should stop whinging about it now. If someone brought up a similar incident from the Heineken Cup from 12 years ago they would be told to stop being a little b*tch and move on.
@Ned Flanders:
It’s not the tackle or the players which concerns fans, it was the cover up afterwards.
This was never addressed and continues today. The all blacks in Dublin last should have got two red cards (tackles on Zebo and CJ) and a red/yellow for Henshaw.
An all black has not got a red card since 1967.
It is not just Ireland every team gets this, SA and Aus complain continually about this
@Jack Dermody: and the crucial point with the BOD tackle is no one was even cited for it afterwards. Two big men picking another man up without the ball and piledriving his neck and head into the ground from a height is the most dangerous thing you can do possibly in any sport. It was only BOD twisting himself to take most of the impact to his shoulder that saved him.
Shockingly illegally took out the lions skipper and the two boys played on the series not a bother
@Jack Dermody:
there is no doubt they are reffed differently. The refereeing of 2011 WC final was for me the biggest scandal in rugby.
@Jack Dermody: I think the simple act of NZ captain, Umaga, and Mealamu, going over to BOD while he was being stretchered off to say a straightforward “sorry, mate” might have partly defused the negative reaction afterwards. They didn’t have either the respect or the balls to do so, which immediately deleted my regard for them as persons, notwithstanding their status as players.
The only way to deal with that tackle was to wallop the bejasus out of mealemu and umaga on the pitch. They should never have walked off it. In this that lions team failed miserably. Similarly with nz in Dublin last November. If ref isnt going to take action then act yourself and fight fire with a firestorm. Lions & Ireland were too effin nice.
You got to love the All Blacks. Even after all this time there is no regret or even an admission of partial responsibility. The end justifies the means. This is why they are perennial winners and we only ever surpassed them once.
It was malicious, vindictive and almost criminal. Try to picture two men doing that to someone on the streets. It’s about the most dangerous thing you could do to someone and the fact that two were involved, not one, defeats any argument that it wasn’t deliberate. The All Blacks also wreaked havoc in Lansdowne Road and that was the last time I left a comment on the Journal. What disappoints me the most is that the management and players didn’t see it coming and didn’t know how to answer them. They’re a proud nation, the New Zealanders, but we’ve got to wise up to their pre-planned strategy of winning at all costs. I agree that the last two major tackle changes in World Rugby have come about because of New Zealand thuggery. The next time we play them, and the Lions, let’s not be naive and match them for physicality. Bob Dwyer still maintains that Duncan McCrae did nothing wrong in 2001. It’s not as if we can’t see it coming anymore. Oh, and an apology is what’s required from the All Blacks, not trying to justify the unjustifiable to this day. If they had done so, we wouldn’t still be talking about it. I won’t hold my breath.
Their tough, physical guys….other players will have to be tougher and tackle twice as hard….all them south Africans are massive men but they have to be willing to break their gut!!