Ireland's number eight is glad to get another good 80 minutes under his belt as minds turn swiftly to the Italian job, writes GERRY THORNLEY

SUCH IS the intensity of a World Cup campaign, all the more so in a country which eats, sleeps and drinks rugby, that the dust had scarcely settled on this handsome win over Russia before minds turned to the winner-takes-all finale. In truth, this 50-pointer over the Bears was no more than an interlude en route to what was always going to be the other defining game.

Even Jamie Heaslip, the rugby player’s non-rugby buff, can’t escape it.

“Yea, the nature of this competition is that you play your game, get your win or whatever and then move on to your next game as quick as you can. It’s so intense. It’s not like the Six Nations, where you have two games and then a week off – that kind of thing. It’s kind of like the Heineken Cup but then it isn’t, because you have two Heineken Cup games and then you get a break.

“It’s just bang, bang, bang, so our video analysts and coaches have their work cut out for them, because they have to think in advance. We’re blessed because we only have to think a week ahead of us.

“But I think what we got from today was great. A lot of guys got a good run-out, I was happy to get another 80 minutes under my belt, get some ball time, Seanie ran well as well, Dunners ran well at six and even a new secondrow, all our subs came on made impacts; Leams, Jeno, all the boys. It was a really good day for the squad.”

This encounter served some useful purposes, not least in giving Heaslip a productive 80 minutes and he clearly feels better about his game as a result.

“I was happy to get another game. In the last two games I had to do a lot of grunt work but that just happens in games and you’ve just got to get with it and go with it. It was really nice to get some ball today, get running onto the ball in the channels that I like, the 10-12 channel and 13 channel, getting through the ball, running lines, getting offloads, offloading myself – yeah it was great getting onto the ball.

“I don’t know if it came across but it was pretty greasy. Even when it had stopped raining it was very greasy, but hey, that’s how it’s going to be down here. We’re going to be under the roof for the next game but that’s the one-off that we have.”

Nor is there much in the way of respite. As expected, this World Cup is wall to wall. Heaslip emphasised the importance of lightning quick ruck ball,

“It is a big focus of the competition in general. You’ve gotta win your ruck ball, you’ve gotta present it on a platter. If you don’t it slows the whole pace down, defences are going to get you and you’re not going to have space.”

He was then asked if he’d seen New Zealand highlight the benefits in beating France on Saturday night. “Well, I could not but watch it. There’s nothing but rugby on in this country. But yes, the rucking was amazing, although the French tend – if they don’t have a sniff, they just fan out and then look for the next ball.”

For Les Kiss and the rest of the coaching staff, the half-time talk was an altogether different challenge than a week ago, with the bonus point already in the bag.

“Overall, in those types of games, there are periods when teams are going to chance their hand a bit more than they probably should at times. But you can’t be critical of that. It’s nice for them to stretch their legs out.

“It’s the first game where we’ve had some dry weather. The rain did come in but there were some dry patches and they had a go at things. So it was nice to have that.”

He gave Russia some credit for the two tries Ireland conceded and described them as “like a pebble in your shoe. They’ve got some sevens players, guys with speed. At nine, Yanyushkin is a handy little character, got off the scrum nice and quick and put us under a bit of pressure.

“We could have handled both tries better but you’ve got to take your hat off to them and they got a result because they finished them well too. We knew what they could do, they did it against Italy, so I’m not going to go hang myself.”

Russian assistant coach Kingsley Jones lamented his side’s self-destructive ill-discipline in the opening 15 minutes though two neatly carved set-piece tries were evidence of improvement.

Asked about the Ireland-Italy game, the Welshman ventured: “You’d have to say Ireland. The first thing is the amount of support they’ve got. I thought it was Thomond Park at the beginning to be honest with you. But, just the experience, I think. They’ve an experienced front five, Italy, but this Irish team have a lot of experience. It will be an interesting game. I wouldn’t put a lot of money on it but I’d say Ireland.”

Similarly, former Leinster lock Adam Byrnes forecast: “Ireland, yes. I think it will be close. I don’t think there will be many points in the game itself, but from their victory against Australia I think they have a lot of self-belief. I just spoke to a couple of the Ireland boys in the changing room about the Australian game, and I think they took a lot out of that victory and they surprised even themselves.”

Of his time with Leinster, Byrnes added: “Honestly? It was the best two years of my life. I went over there for my first professional contract, made a lot of friends and learned a lot of lessons as well. I really learned how a professional set-up works. . . . I really had a burning desire to play rugby and in my two years at Leinster I got a lot of experience which was something I brought back to Super rugby in Australia.”