International rules football

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:

In the goal net (a goal): 6 points, umpire waves green flag and raises both index fingers.^[2]
Over the crossbar and between the two large posts (an over): 3 points, umpire waves red flag and raises one arm above his head.^[2]
Between a large post and a small post (a behind): 1 point, umpire waves white flag and raises one index finger.^[2]

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:

per quarter was reduced from 20 minutes to 18 minutes
A player who received a red card is to be sent off and no replacement is allowed; in addition to this a penalty is awarded regardless of where the incident takes place (Previously a replacement was allowed and a penalty was only awarded if the incident happened in the penalty area)^[3]
A yellow card now means a 15-minute sin bin for the offending player, who will be sent off if he receives a second card^[3]

2008 rule changes

Maximum of 10^[4] interchanges per quarter
Teams are allowed only four consecutive hand passes (ball must then be kicked)^[4]
Match time reduced from 80 minutes to 72 minutes (18 minutes per quarter)^[2]
Goalkeeper can no longer kick the ball to himself from the kick-out^[2]
Suspensions may carry over to GAA and AFL matches if The Match Review Panel sees fit^[2]
A dangerous "slinging" tackle will be an automatic red card
A front-on bump (known as a shirtfront in Australian football) endangering the head will result in a red card
Physical intimidation can result in a yellow card
Keeper can not be tackled or touched when the keeper is charging
An independent referee can cite players for reportable offences from the stands
Yellow card sin bin reduced to 10 minutes^[2]

2014 rule changes

Maximum number of interchanges per quarter increased from 10 to 16
Unlimited number of interchanges allowed at quarter and half time breaks
Number of consecutive hand-passes teams are allowed increased from 4 to 6
Marks will not be paid for backwards kicks caught by a teammate
Goalkeepers required to kick the ball out beyond the 45m line after all wides, behinds and overs
Failure of a goalkeeper to kick over the 45m line will result in a free kick to the opposition (from the 45m line)^[5]

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.