Keary keen to kick on after impressive Ireland debut

Luke Keary won over many new admirers following his eye-catching debut for Ireland and he will be hoping to impress a few more familiar ones when the Wolfhounds take on Lebanon in their crucial Group C clash in Leigh on Sunday.

The Sydney Roosters stand-off won Grand Finals in the NRL with both his current club and South Sydney but rated Ireland's opening 48-2 win over Jamaica in Leeds last Sunday as one of the proudest moments of his career.

It was made more special by the presence of his parents, Jim and Diane, in the crowd at Headingley and he will have the support of even more family at the Leigh Sports Village.

Keary, who won two caps for Australia in 2018, qualifies for Ireland through his grandfather, who hails from Loughrea in County Galway, and was keen to honour his father's roots.

"He enjoyed it," Keary said. "He wouldn't say anything but I think he was pretty proud to see me run out in the Ireland jersey.

"I know it would mean a lot to him and his family so it was pretty special having him there at the game.

"They will be there at Leigh and a few of the Irish family are coming over from Galway so it will be special to see them."

Victory over the Cedars would clinch a place in the quarter-finals for Ireland ahead of their daunting final group game against New Zealand in Leeds next Friday and Keary, whose performance against Jamaica, was enough to earn him a place in the tournament team of the round, says they will go into the game with confidence.

"It's been good," Keary said of his time in the Irish camp so far. "Everyone has come together.

"We gelled pretty quickly that first week, had a good week's prep going into the Jamaica game and I thought we performed OK.

"Defensively we were pretty good but we were a bit