Ireland may have lost but Shane Walsh was the real winner of the International Rules

The man in form.

Before things got heated, Conor McManus was the best player at the International Rules for Ireland. For Australia? Probably Nat Fyfe, But there was one man that really made a name for himself as if he hadn't before. Shane Walsh is highly respected in the GAA world, if he's not in the marquee forward bracket he's very much close to it. And how Walsh proved that today. Midway through the match, Marty Morrissey noted that if you asked any player in the squad about Shane Walsh they would call him the man in form. Twice today Walsh tore open the Australian defence with his blistering pace to be involved in two-goal chances. First, he gutted the Australian defence to set up Darren Hughes only for the Monaghan player's shot to be stopped by stand-in goalkeeper Brendon Goddard. Then he found himself one-on-one only for Goddard to be the hero and prevent the Galway forward from scoring a goal. Like a cheetah throughout the match, game respects game and Austin Gleeson posted on Twitter:

"Shane Walsh wouldn't look out of place at the Olympics! #AfterBurners"

https://twitter.com/AussieGleeson/status/931814356307922945 And Gleeson wasn't the only one to take notice of Walsh today. https://twitter.com/Ciaron0Hanlon/status/931868745621893121 https://twitter.com/BrianMcClella14/status/931833104620244992 https://twitter.com/NoelCarroll5/status/931836707468701707 https://twitter.com/seaniemealiffe/status/931827089245921281 https://twitter.com/AidanMurs/status/931868763263258624 It wasn't a game of near goals for Walsh though, he did pop one hell of a score to cap off a brilliant display. https://twitter.com/officialgaa/status/931895233004146693 Take a bow.