Rookie mixing it with the best

International Rules: Ian O'Riordan talks to Colm Begley who had a huge influence in Saturday's Test

Whatever about the merits of the game or the appeal of the series, one thing is certain after the opening International Rules Test is the influence of Colm Begley. That Begley impressed in Ireland's eight-point win at Pearse Stadium on Saturday night was hardly surprising giving his rapid rise through the AFL ranks in his rookie season, but the former Laois underage star is not only good at the game - he's a fan too.

"I think it's a great game, I really do," he says. "I mean I'd still love Gaelic football more than I would AFL, but to be able to mix both, and play both, is great, and I really enjoyed it. And of course we're supposed to be the amateur team, so to beat the professionals is a nice feeling as well. But most of all it's about playing for your country. I feel very privileged to be here with all these boys, and I suppose I have skipped a few years to be here. Being involved with the AFL helped a lot, and of course I do feel I've benefited a lot from my year out there."

Begley made a sensational breakthrough with the Brisbane Lions, the fastest Irish player to be elevated to the senior list and featured in the last two games of the regular season, including a run-out against Tadhg Kennelly's Sydney Swans. He reckons he's put on eight kilos of muscle during his year in Australia but it was his pace and ability to cover ground - on the field and when interchanging with players - that proved particularly effective on Saturday. He was also well able to tackle hard, something he's got used to in the last year.

"Well yeah, but I mean it is a tough game. There is a lot of hitting, but it's fair hitting. We'd a few scuffles out there as well but nothing serious. And you'd expect that in any game where there's passion involved, and two countries like Ireland and Australia clashing. And I know every one of this team will fight for one another.

"It is a little hard to get used to, and takes a good few weeks just to learn the rules. And the tackling is very hard. Even when I came back home a few weeks ago, and was getting back into the Gaelic football tackling and the shadowing and that, I found it very hard, so it must be really hard for the rest of this team."

His year in Australia gives him another small advantage over most of his Irish team-mates: he knows exactly how the Australians plan to make up for Saturday's defeat when the deciding Test takes place at Croke Park on Sunday. "Sure you'd expect a backlash from any team when you beat them like that. Their pride will have been hurt, and I know because they're the professionals it will be in their nature to come back and hit us hard. But we'll be going out to play our own game. I mean it's there for us to win now . . . we have some great leaders on this team. Kieran McGeeney is an awesome leader, but an awesome player as well. He put in a tackle there towards the end that really inspired us all."

Despite the circumstances of Ireland's win, with Joe Bergin's goal saving the game just as it seemed to be slipping away, Begley is nonetheless confident of their chances of closing the deal on Sunday.

"I think a lot of that was our own doing, really. We fell asleep a little bit, so I thinking "slipping away" are the wrong words . . . we worked hard, got our heads tuned in again, and we said going out for the last quarter just to play hard, that the third quarter was gone, and pick it up the way we started. And that's the way we'll be going out to play for the whole game next Sunday."