Premier League stars go Gaelic for Adidas

One of the most popular sports in Ireland, Gaelic Football is as complicated as filling in a tax return in Swahili while underwater. Dublin GAA’s Alan Brogan took time out of his busy schedule of remembering the rules to teach Jermain Defoe, Ashley Young and Roman Pavlyuchenko about his nation’s pastime, with mixed results.

[101GG]

The best platform for unrelenting violence disguised as a game

According to Wikipedia, International Rules Football is a hybrid of Aussie Rules Football and Gaelic Football, played in annual tournaments and test matches. Judging by the highlights reel above, however, game play seems to focus around Australians and Irish people repeatedly punching each other in the face.

The series was mysteriously absent last year, but returned today (6.30pm Aussie time, so they’re probably rinsing the blood off the pitch by now) as the Irish visited Perth in the first test. They’ve brought in a few rule changes in 2008, including one that stipulates that “Physical intimidation can result in a yellow card.” Presumably, “yellow card” is Australian for “goal”.

[WithLeather]