Joe Kernan tells Irish players to cast off the shackles

Ireland will have a numerical advantage over Australia in this evening’s test after manager Joe Kernan insisted he won’t be dropping another player.

The visiting side only have 22 players with them, one short of the maximum number. “We have 23, we weren’t told different, so that’s the rule,” said a defiant Kernan yesterday. “I am not telling any Irish player he is not togging out tomorrow.”

Kernan has put it to his players to show they can outwork a set of the AFL’s top professional sportsmen. “We just want players to take the handcuffs off. That means hard work. We have to work harder than the Australians to win this. You’re not going to win it on speed or skill; you have to work hard. That’s what bred into them (Australians) and we have to come off here (the pitch) knowing that we emptied the tank.