Ireland
35
Match Complete
Russia
0
| J. Carty |  | 76 | ||
| G. Ringrose |  | 75 | ||
| J. Carty | | 62 | ||
| A. Conway | | 61 | ||
| J. Sexton | | 36 | ||
| R. Ruddock | | 34 | ||
| J. Sexton | | 13 | ||
| P. O'Mahony | | 12 | ||
| J. Sexton | | 2 | ||
| R. Kearney | | 1 |
| 5 | Tries | 0 | ||
| 5 | Conversions | 0 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Ireland take on Russia in a must-win game as they seek to get their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track after an upset loss to Japan. Join The Roar from 8:15pm (AEST) for this Pool A clash.
Ireland need to bounce back and make short work of the Russians. They will be targeting at least four tries and a bonus point in this one.
The Irish are currently in second spot in Pool A with six points, while Japan are top with nine points. A big win here will get Joe Schmidt’s men back on track.
On the other hand, Russia have played two and lost two so far in the tournament.
They were brave but beaten 30-10 by the hosts in the opener, then went down 34-9 to Samoa.
Sadly, they are in for more of the same tonight. The best they can hope for is damage limitation.
The two teams have met before in a World Cup, back in 2011, and the men in green won 61-12. It could be as brutal this time around.
Schmidt has rung the changes, with nine alterations from the team that was upset by the Brave Blossoms.
Johnny Sexton returns and has been named as captain, while Jordi Murphy will start at number 8.
Tadhg Beirne and Jean Kleyn will start in the second row, while Peter O’Mahony and Garry Ringrose both keep their spots.
Like Ireland, Russia have made nine changes in a bid to freshen things up, although Vasily Artemyev remains as skipper and fullback.
Prediction
This is only going one way, and that’s Ireland’s.
Ireland to win by 38 points.
Join The Roar from 8:15pm (AEST) for the play by play call of Ireland versus Russia.
Game information
Kick-off: 8:15pm (AEST)
Venue: Kobe Misaki Stadium
TV: Live, Fox Sports
Online: Live and on demand, Kayo and Foxtel
Betting: Ireland $1.001, Russia $101
Teams
Ireland
15. Rob Kearney, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Keith Earls, 10. Johnny Sexton (c), 9. Luke McGrath; 1. Dave Kilcoyne, 2. Niall Scannell, 3. John Ryan, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. Rhys Ruddock, 7. Peter O’Mahony, 8. Jordi Murphy.
Replacements: 16. Sean Cronin, 17. Andrew Porter, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. CJ Stander, 21. Joey Carbery, 22. Jack Carty, 23. Jordan Larmour.
Russia
15. Vasily Artemyev (c), 14. German Davydov, 13. Igor Galinovskiy, 12. Kirill Golosnitskiy, 11. Denis Simplikevich, 10. Ramil Gaisin, 9. Dmitry Perov; 1. Andrei Polivalov, 2. Evgeny Matveev, 3. Kirill Gotovtsev, 4. Andrey Garbuzov, 5. Bogdan Fedotko, 6. Anton Sychev, 7. Tagir Gadzhiev, 8. Victor Gresev
Replacements: 16. Stanislav Selskii, 17. Valery Morozov, 18. Vladimir Podrezov, 19. Andrey Ostrikov, 20. Evgeny Elgin, 21. Sergey Ianiushkin, 22. Roman Khodin, 23. Vladimir Ostroushko.
Kdog
Guest
+1
Kiwiburger
Guest
I hear Toners omission was because Wales were going to pursue a citing from their final game if he was selected rendering him unusable for much of the tournament.
Tony Cooper
Guest
Kdog..The Old Ruck Laws would have made it safer. The Irish player had every opportunity to stay on his feet, yet chose to go to ground. The Russians could have used their feet to remove him, avoiding the Head And Neck
TonyT
Guest
Thought the Irish Player had every opportunity to stay on his feet, yet chose to go to ground holding the tackled player..Think it’s time to change the Ruck Rules, as no body seems to “Stay on Their Feet”
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
Beirne excellent for Ireland, and Aki is a key player. No idea why Toner was left behind in favour of the big South African.....he was very ordinary. But overall Ireland disappointed. Lot of credit to Russia. Though they never looked like scoring, they played a lot of excellent rugby. Flyhalf kicked beautifully. 7 was very good.
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
Larmour is a very special player
Peter
Guest
Why not ping the Irishman for his over-the- top hit on the Russian ball-carrier? Surely not just because he’s on the “Tier 1” team!
anon
Roar Pro
Sausages for you tomorrow night.
Faith
Roar Rookie
That was such a weird performance. Are Ireland playing possum? Isn't Russia the weakest team in this RWC?
Irish are not playing the game, I needed them to score 45 not 35. It is a simple request, not all that complicated.
Doctordbx
Roar Rookie
35-0 doesn't sound like a team that struggled.
John Davidson
Roar Guru
MATCH REPORT Ireland have made hard work of beating a determined Russia in Japan, finishing 35-0 winners to get their World Cup campaign back on track. The Russians were plucky and brave, but were on the back foot from the second minute when Ireland scored their first try. Joe Schmidt’s men notched five tries with captain Johnny Sexton ending with a haul of six points from a 40-minute stint. But it was far from a complete performance from Ireland. Their handling and composure was poor at times, and struggled on occasion to open up the committed Russian defence. Ireland did enough to get the bonus point they craved, but they have plenty to work on as the tougher opponents beckon. They got off to a great start when Rob Kearney touched down after just 90 seconds. Ten minutes later they were in again, this time Peter O’Mahony with the try. A neat grubber from Sexton caught the Russians unawares and Mahony swooped in to score. Russia lifted its game and began to frustrate the Irish. They did have a man set to the bin, Bogdan Fedotko, for illegally slowing down the play in the 33rd minute. At the interval Ireland were ahead 21-0. Jack Carty came on for Sexton at half-time and seemed to lose their way somewhat without their talisman. Russia’s defence held on until the 51st minute when Andrey Ostrikov was yellow carded for using a shoulder as he cleaned out a ruck. Ireland made a series of substitutions and the change had the desired effect, leading to their fourth try. The best five-pointer of the game came from deep, as they kept the ball alive and used the space, Garry Ringrose finishing the excellent play off. With four minutes left Ireland grabbed another, Carty chipping over the top and Keith Earls regathering and finding Andrew Conway in support to touch down.
Derm
Roar Guru
I think that’s what Schmidt is trying to avoid – another RWC 2015. With Conan gone, and Murphy is now out, that puts Stander or O’Mahony in for yet another game – against Samoa. Carbery is out injured so Sexton/Carty will have to go again. Carbery – ankle Conan – foot Farrell – concussion Henshaw – ? Sexton – thigh Murphy – rib
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yea, the guy catching it jumps from in the 22 but catches and lands just outside so it was ligit, but I think 22m drops should go 5m anyway.
Derm
Roar Guru
23 line outs and 14 scrums is the final count.
Lara
Guest
If Ireland get any injuries to their starters, they are gone.
Derm
Roar Guru
Higher to my jaundiced eye. It finished with 18. Very poor.
Derm
Roar Guru
18 handling errors. No creativity for the most part. Second half was the opportunity to put the foot down and it didn’t materialise. No leaders on the pitch. Don’t recall seeing any players giving the team a gee-up.
Peter
Guest
Derm, I haven’t watched the game, but why “allegedly”? Was 15 the official count? Are you suggesting higher or lower?
Derm
Roar Guru
Clearly ball and ground were slippy. Every other team has had to contend with that though. So I’ll go with lacking conviction and being too careful with the ball, and careless without it.