Ciaran McKeever says Ireland won't be afraid of getting physical if needs be in this Friday's second Test against Australia.

Rumours are whirling that the hosts are planning to enforce a more physical approach in the Gold Coast this week and their flop in the first Test, which saw them suffer a 44-point defeat in Melbourne, but Irish vice-captain McKeever says he and his team mates will be ready for the challenge.

"We didn't travel 13,000 miles to get intimidated by a crowd of Aussies," said McKeever.

"We came out here to win the series. By the way they're talking, they are going to play it on their terms. We're not worried about that. If they want to up the ante, we will have no bother matching them."

Despite Anthony Tohill's team scoring a record win against the Aussies last week at the Eithad Stadium, McKeever believes that there is plenty for them to improve on in the second Test.

"We were just getting rid of it for the sake of it," the Armagh man stated. "We worked very hard on that in training. Possession just cannot be wasted. You must get into that mindset. You need to be composed on the ball."

He added: "We're starting with a clean slate on Friday. We want to win this as much as we did the first game."