The 2008 International Rules Series was the 14th annual

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...

and was played between

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. After the 2007 series was cancelled by the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

, the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

and the GAA agreed in 2008 to resume the series. The matches were played in Australia – 24 October in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and 31 October in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

(after the

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. Prior to 1990 it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league was then known as the Victorian Football Leag ...

and

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

). Ireland won by five points on aggregate after recording victories in both tests.

Rule changes

* Maximum of 14 interchanges per quarter. * Teams are allowed only four consecutive hand passes (ball must then be kicked). * Match time reduced from 20 to 18 minutes per quarter (with stoppage time for breaks in play). * Goalkeeper can no longer kick the ball to himself from the kick-out. * Suspensions may carry over the GAA and AFL matches if ''The Match Review Panel'' see fit. * A dangerous "slinging" tackle will be an automatic red card. * A shirtfront endangering the head will result in a red card. * Physical intimidation can result in a yellow card. * One-handed tackles result in a free kick. * An independent referee can cite players for reportable offenses from the stands. * Yellow cards sin bin reduced to 10 minutes.

Squads

Notes: * Main sources for squads: BBC Sport Online and

Hogan Stand Hoganstand.com is a news website and the online face of the monthly Gaelic games magazine ''Hogan Stand'', which is distributed throughout Ireland. The magazine is named after the main stand in Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games ...

. * Kerry's Tommy Walsh was named on the original Irish squad, but had to withdraw due to club commitments with Kerins O'Rahilly's. He was replaced by Paul Finlay. *

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

's Bernard Brogan was named on the Irish original squad, but had to withdraw due to club commitments with St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh. He was replaced by Martin McGrath. * The match-day squad for both teams was limited to 24 players each. Thus Australia (who had a 25 man squad) had to drop one player for each test and Ireland (who had a 27 man squad) had to drop three players. Ireland manager Boylan was criticised for including

David Gallagher David Lee Gallagher (born February 9, 1985) is an American actor and former model. He began his career as a child actor and model at the age of two, and is known for his roles as Mikey Ubriacco in '' Look Who's Talking Now'', Simon Camden in '' ...

in his squad, as he was not then playing

inter-county Inter-county, is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) List of Gaelic games terminology, terminology which refers to competitions or matches between County (Gaelic games), counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term c ...

football.

Irish management team

* Coach – Seán Boylan * Selectors: ** Anthony Tohill ** Hugh Kenny ** Eoin Liston * Runner –

Seán Marty Lockhart Seán Marty Lockhart (born Seán Martin Lockhart; 22 August 1976) is an Irish people, Irish dual player of Gaelic games who plays Gaelic football for the Derry county football team, Derry county team. He has won an Ulster Senior Football Champi ...

* Backroom team: **

Trevor Brennan Trevor Brennan (born 29 September 1973) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played for Barnhall, Bective Rangers, St Marys College RFC, Leinster, Stade Toulousain and Ireland, being capped 13 times. He played either in the second row or ...

(fitness & tackling) ** Mike McGurn (fitness & tackling) * Tour Manager – Seán Walsh * Assistant Tour Manager – Tommy Kilcoyne * Team doctor – Owen Clarke * Physiotherapist – Frank Foley * Masseur – Martin Regan * Kit manager – Owen Lynch * Waterboys – Ciaran Boylan and Pauric Gallagher Notes: * Main sources: Hogan Stand

Refereeing team

* Main referees – Pat McEnaney (Ireland) and Stephen McBurney (Australia) * Standby referees / linesmen – David Coldrick (Ireland) and Brett Rosebury (Australia) * Umpires – Gearóid Ó Conámha &

John Bannon John Charles Bannon (7 May 1943 – 13 December 2015) was an Australian politician and academic. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch), South Australian Branch of the Australia ...

(Ireland) and Steven Axon & Peter Nastasi (Australia) * Video match referee – Ian Curlewis (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) Notes: * Main source: Hogan Stand

Matches

First test

Second test

References

External links

* {{GAA 2008

International Rules series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...

International Rules series International sports competitions hosted by Australia October 2008 sports events in Australia