HURLING-SHINTY: Ian O'Riordan talks to Ireland selector Nicky Brennan ahead of Sunday's game

Early arrivals to Croke Park on Sunday for the second International Rules Test will be greeted with the strange sight of the country's top hurlers playing against a team in blue with more deadly-looking sticks. But the annual hurling-shinty match, the only other international dimension to the GAA, is now, according to Ireland selector Nicky Brennan, a seriously competitive game.

The hybrid between the ancient Scottish and Irish pastimes has been greatly rejuvenated over the last three years. On Sunday (1.15 p.m. throw-in) the Irish team will seek their third victory in succession, a major turnaround on the previous years when Scotland would normally produce significant winning margins.

"The game goes back a long way, but it's fair to say that three or four years ago it had reached a low ebb," explains Brennan. "Scotland had been winning all the games, and the Irish were really just getting involved to have a good time.

"Then this group of selectors got involved. This is our third and final year, and we're not looking for any great credit or anything but we decided it should be done right, or it should be packed in. So we got players that we knew would be committed to doing well, and it has worked out."

With Brennan, the former Kilkenny hurler and current chairman of the Leinster Council, the Irish back-room team consists of managers Paudie O'Neill (Dublin) and Noel O'Sullivan (Kildare), and selectors Donie Nealon and Bernie O'Connor.

This year's panel is built around the country's top hurlers, including the likes of Tipperary's Brendan Cummins, Cork's Diarmuid O'Sullivan, Kilkenny's Peter Barry and Galway's Rory Gantley. Philip Larkin (Kilkenny) and Eamonn Corcoran (Tipperary) are late defections, with David Forde (Clare) and David O'Connor (Wexford) set to be called up.

"The players involved are serious about it. The fact it's being played in Croke Park adds a lot more to it," adds Brennan.

"It is an exhibition game, but it will be intense. Definitely last year's game over in Fort William was very competitive. Scotland take it ferociously seriously and probably more than us except that we want to win it on the day."

Two years ago it was also played at Croke Park before the International Rules Test and Ireland won well.

"Of course most people coming into Croke Park on Sunday are going to see something they've never seen before. But it's not a complicated game. It's mostly your standard hurling, except you cannot catch the ball with your hand, and you cannot stop it with your foot.

"So it's a very skilful game. Players that would normally put up their hand for the ball have to control it in the air with their hurl. And I honestly think the people who come early to Croke Park will see a lot of effort and skill from both teams.

"The Irish players are giving full-blooded commitment over the hour."