Gleeson seeks win on return to Oz

FORMER NSW turned Ireland flanker Keith Gleeson says the Irish are ready to match it with the rugby powerhouses of the southern hemisphere.

The back-rower grew up in Sydney and captained Australia under-21s but decided two years ago his international ambitions lay in the Emerald Isle after being unable to secure a regular start in four seasons with the Waratahs.

The 27-year-old breakaway, whose family migrated from Dublin to Sydney in 1984, will play his first international match on Australian soil against the Wallabies in Perth on Saturday.