Ireland will be well able to look after themselves if Australia adopt a physical approach in tomorrow's first International Rules test, insists captain Aidan O'Shea.

The Mayo star doesn't subscribe to the theory that the professionals possess an advantage over the touring amateurs in the strength and conditioning stakes.

"I'm not really concerned if they want to bring it physical - we have the ability to handle that," he told The Irish Independent.

"If that's the route they want to go, then that's fine, but we'll be making sure we're as proficient as we can be in the skills of our game to really punish them on the scoreboard.

"We were at dinner with them last night and there's no real significant difference between both sides from a physical conditioning point of view. They're professional athletes but we match up pretty well.

"We've got some big boys around the middle and some good runners, good speed, and we've got some great scorers."

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