KOBE, 2 Oct – Preview of the Pool A match between Ireland and Russia, which kicks off at 19:15 on Thursday at Kobe Misaki Stadium.
The Big Picture
A bonus-point victory will be Ireland’s minimum expectation against Russia’s 100-1 underdogs. They will also be hoping to produce a performance marked by the kind of accuracy and ambition that won plaudits when they beat Scotland in Yokohama.
If Ireland also can leave Kobe with no tour-threatening injuries, they will consider it a job well done. They will then have the luxury of nine days to prepare for their final Pool A game, against Samoa in Fukuoka.
Such is the challenge for Russia that fly-half Ramil Gaisin appeared a little star-struck when facing the media this week. With the hugely experienced Yury Kushnarev rested, 28-year-old Gaisin will find himself up against World Player of the Year Johnny Sexton, a prospect he is clearly relishing.
Speaking shortly before Ireland named their team, Gaisin said: “I hope that the main Ireland players will appear, and being on the pitch with such star players will be a big thrill. I can’t wait for it to happen.”
The shadow of Ireland’s shock defeat by Japan hangs over this fixture and the five-day turnaround from that game is in part responsible for the 11 changes coach Joe Schmidt has made to his starting team.
“We expect them to come hard,” Russia coach Lyn Jones said on Tuesday. With competition for places never more intense in the Ireland squad, Jones’s players are likely to be hit by an early onslaught, as Ireland seek to rack up points before humid conditions under a closed roof start affecting energy levels.
Players who have already played in the sweltering Kobe Misaki Stadium have compared the ball to a bar of soap, especially in the second half.
There were 65 handling errors in the two games played there already (England v USA and Scotland v Samoa). Schmidt, assuredly, will have a game plan for the conditions. He will also be hoping that his players concede far fewer penalties than the uncharacteristic nine they gave away against Japan.
With Russia’s margin of defeat in their opening two games averaging 31 points, the analysts are expecting an Ireland victory by as many as 52 points.
They got it badly wrong when assessing the Japan game, but Russia faded badly in the second half against Samoa after four-day turnaround from their own fixture with Japan and it will be asking a lot for them to live with a wounded Ireland when bodies tire in the heat.
Form guide (most recent matches first)
Ireland: LWWWL
Russia: LLLWL
Head-to-head
Played 2: Ireland 2W – Russia 0W
In the spotlight
With Rory Best rested, Johnny Sexton captains Ireland for the first time and his pride at being given the honour was abundantly clear at Tuesday’s team announcement.
With or without an armband, Sexton has been one of his team’s biggest leaders for the best part of a decade but if Ireland’s performance level is not to his liking he may be even more vocal than usual when rallying his players.
In the most eye-catching Russian selection, winger Denis Simplikevich, who had no game time in either of their first two matches, goes straight into the starting XV.
Perhaps coach Lyn Jones will be hoping that lightning can strike twice because Simplikevich has form against Ireland. Eight years ago, at 20, he made a try-scoring RWC debut against the Irish, in a 62-12 defeat in Rotorua, New Zealand.
Ireland have made 11 changes to the team that started against Japan, with only Peter O’Mahony retained in the pack. Back-row forward Jordi Murphy, who has replaced the injured Jack Conan in the squad, goes straight in at number eight. Prop John Ryan and second-row Jean Kleyn will make their World Cup debut.
With Robbie Henshaw yet to play after a training-ground injury and Chris Farrell ruled out after failing a head injury assessment in the Japan game, Ireland are stretched at centre, so Ringrose, pictured scoring against Japan, will start his third consecutive game.
Coach Lyn Jones makes nine changes to the Russia team beaten 34-9 by Samoa. Fly-half Yury Kushnarev, responsible for 14 of their 19 points in the tournament to date, will not add to his national record 111 caps after being omitted from the match-day 23. His replacement is Ramil Gaisin, who came off the bench against Japan and Samoa.
Captain Vasily Artemyev is one of six players who will have started all three RWC 2109 games, alongside Kirill Gotovtsev, Bogdan Fedotko, Tagir Gadzhiev, German Davydov and Kirill Golosnitskiy.
Stats & Trivia
Ireland have picked up a bonus point in each of their first two RWC 2019 matches. They also achieved this at RWC 2015, but then failed to pocket a bonus point in the remainder of the tournament.
Only Ronan O’Gara (93), David Humphreys (70) and Ralph Keyes (68) have scored more points for Ireland at the Rugby World Cup than Johnny Sexton (54).
Russia’s starting hooker Evgeny Matveev is one of only two players to score three tries in a losing cause since RWC 2015, after recording the hat-trick against Uruguay in Russia’s 48-26 defeat in June 2019. The other is USA’s Joe Taufete’e.
“We know the stats from the last two games that have been here (Kobe Misaki Stadium) – 30 handling errors in one and 35 in the other. It’s being able to adapt to that. How do we adapt? We make sure there’s a no-excuse mentality.” – Ireland’s defence coach Andy Farrell.
“We are facing probably the toughest challenge that Russian rugby has ever faced. We take on one of the best teams in the world, Ireland. The challenge is huge but the enthusiasm and confidence in our team is very good, and preparation has gone well.” – Russia coach Lyn Jones.
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