Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will name his squad this Wednesday for the upcoming eircom International friendly game against Australia.

The home of Munster Rugby, Thomond Park, will play host to the first ever international friendly in the mid-west region when the Republic of Ireland's face Australia on Wednesday, August 12, kick-off 7.30pm.

The Irish senior side have not played a home international outside of Dublin since 1985 when the Flower Lodge grounds hosted an international friendly against Spain in Cork.

Pim Verbeek's Australian side is currently ranked 16th in the FIFA world rankings and have already qualified for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010.

The friendly marks the beginning of an exciting few months for the Irish team, with the 2010 World Cup Group 8 qualifying campaign resuming on September 5 with an away assignment in Cyprus.

Ireland will face South Africa in a friendly four days later at Thomond Park before concluding the qualification group with a double-header at home against Italy and Montenegro on October 10 and 14 respectively. Trapattoni's side are currently second in the table, one point behind leaders Italy.

Tickets for the Republic of Ireland friendly against Australia on August 12th are now on sale. Tickets will be made available through ticketmaster and will also be sold in 21 outlets throughout Munster and Connaught .

Tickets for this match will be available for €25 (South terrace), €35 (East and West terrace) and €55 (East and West stands).