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The International Rules Series is a senior men's
international rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...
competition between the
Australia international rules football team The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in International rules football, a hybrid sport derived from Australian rules football and Gaelic football. The current team is solely made up of players ...
(selected by 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
Ireland international rules football team The Ireland international rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football. The team is made up of Irish players from the Gaelic Athl ...
(selected 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 ...
). International rules football is played using a set of compromise rules devised by both governing bodies. While the International Rules Series matches use some rules from
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
, the field, ball and uniforms of both teams are derived from
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
. The competition originated in the 1980s, with four series played in that decade. It was contested annually between 1998 and 2006, and then featured sporadically over next eleven years, with the last series contested in 2017 and no future series scheduled as of September 2024. At the height of its popularity, a series was played over two Test matches in October/November after the completion of 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 the
All-Ireland Football Final The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, All-Ireland Men's Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is an annual series of games played in Ireland during the summer and early autumn, and organised by the Gae ...
, which were both traditionally played in late September, and the winner was the team with the highest cumulative score over both Tests.


History

The two teams contest a trophy, which in 2004 was named the Cormac McAnallen Cup—after the Tyrone team captain
Cormac McAnallen Cormac McAnallen (; 11 February 1980 – 2 March 2004) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Eglish St Patrick's club and the Tyrone county team. With Tyrone, McAnallen won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 2003, a ...
, whose death that year from a
heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...
condition at 24 years old came after he had represented
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 ...
in the previous three series. The concept for the series originates from the
Australian Football World Tour The Australian Football World Tour was a series of international rules football matches, organised by Australian Rules Football, football sports broadcaster and former Australian Football League, VFL Umpire (Australian rules football), umpire Harry ...
, which took place in 1967 and 1968. The tour saw a collection of Australian footballers from the VFL,
SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...
and WAFL competitions travel to Ireland for an itinerary of matches played under modified Gaelic football rules. The first proper series took place in Ireland in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
under a three-match format, whereby the team accumulating the most wins from the series were victors. Following poor Australian crowds and a relative lack of interest in
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
, the series was revived in
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
under a two-match aggregate points format. The popularity of the series saw it continue over the next eight years until violent on-field brawling in the mid-2000s saw it cancelled in 2007. A women's series was staged in Ireland in 2006, which to this date remains the only women's series to have taken place between the nations. A series for under-17 boys was held each year between 1999 and 2006 before it was abandoned. The series returned in 2008, although it featured randomly on the calendar over the next decade, going unscheduled in 2009, 2012, 2016, and in 2018–2019. Since 2014, the Australian team has endeavoured to pick players who have been selected in an
All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...
on at least one occasion in their careers. This followed the 2013 series, which was notable for the inclusion of an Australian team made up of exclusively
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
players, known as the Indigenous All-Stars. Ireland inflicted the largest victory in the history of the series, scoring a record-breaking 79-point win in the second Test that resulted in a record-breaking 101-point cumulative victory. The most recent series (
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
) was won by Australia. A series was scheduled in Ireland in 2020, with a return series in Australia scheduled for 2022, but the 2020 series was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In 2024 and 2025 there were ongoing discussions between the AFL and GAA about the revival of the series.


Results

''Series results, up to and including the 2017 series.''


Venues

The following are lists of International Rules Series venues and their locations, ordered by amount of Test matches hosted:


Ireland


Australia


Player awards


Jim Stynes Medal

The Jim Stynes Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian team for each series. It was first awarded in 1998 and named after
Jim Stynes James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football and the first international player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003. ...
, who won the
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it was replaced by an under ...
with
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 ...
before joining
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 ...
. With the Demons, he won the
1991 Brownlow Medal The 1991 Brownlow Medal was the 64th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Jim Stynes of the Melbourne Football Club was declared the outr ...
, set the record for most VFL or AFL consecutive games played (with 244), was named in Melbourne's Team of the Century, and was elected into the
Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...
while also playing for both Ireland and Australia in the series. He was also honoured with a state funeral in Melbourne when he died in 2012. *1998 –
Stephen Silvagni Stephen Silvagni (born 31 May 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Coming second in three generations of Silvagnis to represent the Blues, he is regarded a ...
(Carlton) *1999 –
Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...
(Brisbane) *2000 –
James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he ...
(Essendon) *2001 –
Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...
(Essendon) *2002 – Andrew Kellaway (Richmond) *2003 –
Brent Harvey Brent Harvey (born 14 May 1978), often known by his nickname "Boomer", is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He holds the record for most matches played ...
(North Melbourne) *2004 – Nathan Brown (Richmond) *2005 –
Andrew McLeod Andrew Luke McLeod (born 4 August 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the games record holder for Adelaide, having played 340 games. ...
(Adelaide) *2006 –
Ryan O'Keefe Ryan O'Keefe (born 24 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL), and was part of the Swans' 2005 and 2012 premiership-winning sides. O'Keefe was a member o ...
(Sydney) *2008 –
Kade Simpson Kade Simpson (born 5 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Simpson predominantly played as a half-back flanker, while also spendi ...
(Carlton) *2010 –
Dane Swan Dane Swan (born 25 February 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
(Collingwood) *2011 – James Kelly (Geelong) *2013 –
Ashley McGrath Ashley Vernon McGrath (born 20 May 1983) is a retired Indigenous Australian, Indigenous Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League. Selected in the 2000 AFL Draft with the thirteenth pick ov ...
(Brisbane) *2014 –
Luke Hodge Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, c ...
(Hawthorn) *2015 – Harry Taylor (Geelong) *2017 –
Nat Fyfe Nathan Fyfe (born 18 September 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fyfe is a dual Brownlow Medallist, dual Leigh Matthews Trophy recipient, three-t ...
(Fremantle)


GAA Medal

The
GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...
Medal (also known as the ''Irish Player of the Series'') is awarded in similar circumstances to the Australian award, whereby the Irish player adjudged as the best performed from each series wins the medal. It has been awarded since 2004. *2004 –
Stephen Cluxton Stephen Cluxton (born 17 December 1981) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Dublin county team. Cluxton made his senior debut for Dublin during the 2001 Championship. Since then he has established h ...
(Dublin) *2005 – Tom Kelly (Laois) *2006 –
Alan Brogan Alan Brogan (born 11 January 1982) is a Gaelic footballer from the St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh club who played for the Dublin county team from 2002 until his retirement in 2015. He can play in the full forward line but usually played cen ...
(Dublin) *2008 –
Graham Canty Graham Canty (born 23 July 1980) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as a centre-back for the Cork senior team. Canty went on to play a key role in defence for over a decade, and won one All-Ireland medal, four Munster medals and one Nati ...
(Cork) *2010 –
Colm Begley Colm Begley (born 31 August 1986) is an Irish Gaelic footballer from County Laois. He has also played Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club and the Brisbane Lions of the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Begley w ...
(Laois) *2011 –
Tadhg Kennelly Tadhg Kennelly (born 1 July 1981) is an Irish-Australian former international sportsperson turned recruiter and coach. He is most known for his top-level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football being the first holder of bo ...
(Kerry/Sydney) *2013 – Ciarán Sheehan (Cork/Carlton) *2014 –
Conor McManus Vincent Conor McManus is a Gaelic footballer who formerly played at senior level for the Monaghan county team. Often referred to as one of his county's best-ever players, he is Monaghan's top scorer in National Football League history. After ...
(Monaghan) *2015 – Bernard Brogan (Dublin) *2017 –
Conor McManus Vincent Conor McManus is a Gaelic footballer who formerly played at senior level for the Monaghan county team. Often referred to as one of his county's best-ever players, he is Monaghan's top scorer in National Football League history. After ...
(Monaghan) (2)


Harry Beitzel Medal

The
Harry Beitzel Henry John "Harry" Beitzel (6 April 1927 – 13 August 2017) was an Australian football umpire, print, radio and television sports broadcaster and media personality best known for his contribution to Australian rules football. Early sporting l ...
Medal was awarded to players adjudged "fairest and best" on the field during the 1984 to 1990 series. Beitzel was honoured for his pioneering of the sport and the fact that he arranged the first ever official contact between the two sports of
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
and
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
. *1984 – Jimmy Kerrigan (Ireland) *1986 – Robert Dipierdomenico (Australia) *1987 – Tony McGuinness (Australia) *1990 –
Jack O'Shea Jack O'Shea (born 19 November 1957) is an Irish former sportsman. He played Gaelic football at various times with his local clubs St Mary's in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior football team from 1976 until 19 ...
(Ireland)


Sponsorship

The Australian team were sponsored until 2006 by Foster's, which also sponsored series held in Australia.
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
took over both roles for the 2008 series. Australian plastic manufacturer Nylex sponsored the Australian team in 2010, whilst Toyota and Carlton Draught were guernsey sponsors for the 2011 series. Supermarket chain Coles and community health group National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) were guernsey sponsors for the 2013 series. Airline company
Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, formerly known as Virgin Blue, is an Australian airline based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of two active airlines (the other being Virgin Atlantic) to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet ...
and
Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
have sponsored the Australian teams since 2014. The Irish team, and all series held in Ireland, were sponsored by
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
until 2008. The 2010 and 2013 series in Ireland was sponsored by the ''
Irish Daily Mail The ''Irish Daily Mail'' is a newspaper published on the island of Ireland by DMG Media (the parent company of the British ''Daily Mail''). The paper launched in February 2006 with a launch strategy that included giving away free copies on the f ...
'', while
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
television station
TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...
sponsored the Irish team in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Gaelic games online streaming service GAAGO.ie were sponsors of the Irish team in 2014 and 2015, whilst
electric power transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...
company
EirGrid EirGrid plc is the state-owned electric power transmission operator in Ireland. It is a public limited company registered under the Companies Acts; its shares are held by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. It is one ...
were the title sponsors of the 2015 series in Ireland.


Audience


Television

The International Rules Series has been broadcast on television in Australia and Ireland since the late 1990s. In Ireland it has usually been broadcast on
RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RTà ...
; from 2010 to 2014 the series was broadcast live by Irish-language channel
TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...
. RTÉ reclaimed the rights to the series in 2015. In Australia, the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
broadcast the 1998–2001 series, whilst the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
broadcast the 2002–2005 series. In Australia the 2006 and 2011 series were broadcast on
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...
, though all other series have been broadcast on the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
and simulcast on
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
. The series has had reach into global markets. From 2005, broadcasting extended its reach to the United States via
Setanta Sports North America Setanta Sports Media is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland and in Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia, broadcasting throughout select Eurasian countries, and the Philippines. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the b ...
and to Hong Kong via the
Australia Network ABC Australia, formerly Australia Television International (or just Australia Television), ABC Asia Pacific, Australia Network and Australia Plus, is an Australian pay television channel, launched in 1993 and operated by the Australian Broadca ...
. The 2006 series was broadcast to the United Kingdom via
Setanta Sports 2 Eir Sport 2 (stylised as eir Sport 2, formerly Setanta Sports 1) was an Irish pay television channel owned by Setanta Sports Channel Ireland.Sommet Sports broadcast the 2013 and 2014 series. The 2014 Test match was broadcast live in the United States and parts of Europe and Asia.


Attendance

The series alternates host countries each appropriate year 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 ...
. Since the commencement of the modern era series in 1998, the average attendance up to the conclusion of the 2017 series was 34,337. On two occasions, Test matches have sold out in Australia, both in Perth in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. The first entire series to sell out was in Ireland in 2006 when a combined crowd record of 112,127 was set. The attendance at the second Test of 82,127 at
Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...
was the largest for an international sports fixture in the country. ''Up to date as of 2017 Series''


Criticisms

The series has sustained criticism from several high-profile figures in its parent sports. Three-time All-Ireland-winning Tyrone manager
Mickey Harte Mickey Harte (born 1954) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been joint-manager of Offaly since 2024. Harte managed the Tyrone county team from 2003 until his resignation in 2020, at which time he was the longest ...
has repeatedly called for the series to be disbanded. He stated in 2008 that the tours to Australia are simply a free holiday for the players involved, before repeating the claim in 2011 and calling on the GAA to withdraw from the Series because it does a ''"total disservice to the development of Gaelic games on the international stage"''. Australian journalists such as
Mike Sheahan Michael Sheahan (born 3 March 1947) is an Australian journalist who specialises in Australian rules football. He was chief football writer and associate sports editor for the ''Herald Sun'' for 18 years. Although he left these positions at th ...
have argued that the relevance of the series diminished once the Australian side was no longer made up primarily of
All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...
players, although the team returned to exclusively using All-Australians in 2014. Ex-Kerry footballer
Tomás Ó Sé Tomás Ó Sé (; born 21 June 1978) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. He played Gaelic football with Nemo Rangers GAA, Nemo Rangers and at senior level for the Kerry county football team, Kerry county team from 1998 until he retired in 2013 ...
panned the GAA in 2019 for continuing to maintain friendly relations with the AFL, arguing that the series was primarily responsible for AFL clubs scouting emerging Irish talent and leaving clubs and counties with no compensation for their efforts.


Future of the series

The future of the series was brought into doubt in
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
and
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, mostly through the on-field actions of some Australian players and excessive physicality by both teams. In December 2006, the GAA decided to abandon the 2007 series, issuing a public statement: "On the recommendation of the Management Committee, it was agreed that there would be no Junior or Senior Series of games in 2007 ... Dessie Farrell, the player's representative stated that while there would be some disappointment amongst players that the 2007 Series will not take place, the decision was, in his view, probably a wise one." Talks between the two organisations resumed in 2007, and the 2008 series went ahead without incident. Since then, despite an Australian withdrawal from the 2009 series due to "economic concerns", the series appeared to have a strong future. However, following the 2011 series, concerns were raised over relatively small crowd attendances. The small crowds were blamed on a lack of high-profile
AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...
players being selected in the Australian team as well as a longer AFL season. The series' temporary future was assured by
GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...
director general Paraic Duffy. During the 2013 series, the possibility of expanding future International Rules games into a tri-series was mooted, in such a way that the series would incorporate the Indigenous All-Stars team that participated in 2013, possibly against an AFL All-Star team for the right to play off against the Irish. Though this idea never eventuated, the AFL has expressed interest in staging an exhibition Test match in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, likely in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
or
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.AFL wants International Rules in New York
/ref> Whilst an extremely lopsided result occurred in the 2013 series and the Australians were accused of demonstrating apathy to the concept, a 2014 series featuring current and former
All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...
players occurred, one that was nevertheless regarded as a demonstrable success. During a successful training camp in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
ahead of the 2015 series, Australian coach
Alastair Clarkson Alastair Thomas Clarkson (born 27 April 1968) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and was previously head coach of t ...
gave his strongest pitch yet for the expansion of the series to include a Test match in America and even an actual American international rules team, to facilitate a tri-nations format. In May 2016, the GAA and AFL announced an agreement to not have a Test match in 2016 and instead renew the 2-match aggregate series in
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
(in Australia), with a view to conducting further series in the following years in both Ireland and the United States. The associations agreed to series in 2020 and 2022, but the 2020 series was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
; and, via announcement on 25 December 2022, the 2022 series was delayed, with Mick Malthouse expected to be re-appointed coach of the Australian team. In May 2023, GAA president Larry McCarthy ruled out a return of the International Rules Series for the foreseeable future, citing that the current GAA calendar would ask players to choose between their local club and representing their country. A masters series featuring teams made up of players aged 40 and above and Ladies' series, selected from the respective AFL and GAA Masters leagues, have sporadically been played. In 2024, an over-40 men's, over-50 men's and over-40 women's series was played in and won comprehensively by Ireland in each division; it featured former AFL player
Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...
as head coach of one of the Australian teams. In October 2024, it was announced that AFL and GAA officials were exploring the return of the International Rules series.


See also

*
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
*
Comparison of Gaelic football and Australian rules football Australian rules football and Gaelic football are codes of football, from Australia and Ireland respectively, which have similar styles and features of play. Notably both are dominated by kicking from the hand and hand passing as well as rules ...
*
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
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International rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...
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Australian international rules football team The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in International rules football, a hybrid sport derived from Australian rules football and Gaelic football. The current team is solely made up of player ...
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Ireland international rules football team The Ireland international rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football. The team is made up of Irish players from the Gaelic Athl ...


Notes


References


External links


Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) International Rules pages

Australian Football League (AFL) International Rules pages

Australian Football International Rules
– Archive of past results and statistics
WFN International Rules
– News and historical information section regarding the sport
Laws of the Game
– Updated per 2014 rule changes
AFL Europe Page

Footage of first Test of 2010 series
from YouTube

– Complete series results and news archive of every Test match
Hogan Stand International Rules section
– IRS news section from Irish GAA website {{Gaelic Athletic Association Irish-Australian culture International rules football