Ireland 62 Russia 12:You can't please all of the people all of the time, and a shaky scrum performance will have given some cause for concern, but Ireland did just about all that was asked of them in trying conditions against Russia today.
Nine tries, with the bonus point secured before halftime, will no doubt have given the Irish management reasons for optimism but the set-piece will have to improve if it is to hold its own against a powerful Italian scrum next weekend.
All attention now turns to Dunedin, with Declan Kidney’s assessment of Ireland’s progress to date, in public at least, no better than okay.
"We're doing okay," the typically understated Corkman told the press after today’s win. "Australia was the game everybody was talking about, but we always knew Italy was going to be the vital game if we were going to get out of the group.
"The fact that we find ourselves in a winner-takes-all situation, more than likely, with Italy next Sunday, it's just like a Cup final. The fact that we've something to play for is great, there's obviously a big prize to play for . . . but you know you could also be going home on the flight the next day as well.
"We wouldn't be under any illusions about the task ahead."
Ronan O'Gara gave Kidney the kind of problem coaches like to have with a man of the match performance against the Russians to put pressure on Jonathan Sexton in the battle for the starting berth against the Italians.
"We'll see how training goes during the week," Kidney said when asked who was his first-choice number 10. "We've built a squad and I've said all along that we are blessed that we have two good 10s and that showed again tonight."
Keith Earls led the assault with two tries with Fergus McFadden, Sean O’Brien, Isaac Boss, Andrew Trimble, Rob Kearney, Shane Jennings and Tony Buckley also breaching the whitewash.
Man of the match Ronan O’Gara kicked a penalty and six conversions to finish with 15 points, missing just one shot at goal, and made good use of the space given to him by Russia.
O’Gara’s performance, admittedly against weak opposition, has increased the pressure on first choice outhalf Jonathan Sexton, who slotted one conversion but sent another badly wide.
Ireland did not have it all their own way with former Ireland under-19 international Vasily Artemyev and Denis Simplikevich scoring second-half tries for Russia. They entered the match with the tournament’s meanest defensive record have conceded just 16 points in two games, but their line was breached too easily.
The result cements their position at the summit of Pool C and with one round left to play — against the Italians in Dunedin next Sunday — they are on the brink of reaching the knockout stages.
It was a satisfying 80 minutes for a partially second string XV led by World Cup debutant Leo Cullen, who will hand the captaincy back to Brian O’Driscoll for Italy. Rain began to fall shortly after kick-off but the weather failed to prevent Ireland from making an ambitious start.
O’Brien made an early impression with robust carries while Donnacha Ryan hit the line at pace, but the good work was undone when Buckley spilled the ball close to the line.
Russia had strayed offside, resulting in three points for O’Gara, and their situation deteriorated further when outhalf Konstantin Rachkov was sin-binned for slapping the ball forward.
The first try arrived in the 10th minute, McFadden expertly touching down O’Gara’s crossfield bomb after sliding over the whitewash. It was already looking grim for Russia, who conceded again just three minutes later when a series of carries ended with O’Brien piercing the last line of defence.
Russia burst into life in the 22nd minute, winning a turnover and then moving into Ireland’s 22 through runs by centre Andrey Kuzin and number eight Victor Gresev. Their purple patch continued when winger Simplikevich snatched an O’Gara bomb from under the nose of Trimble and sped 30 yards.
Ireland’s early assault had ground to a halt thanks to a mixture of Russian doggedness and their own lack of accuracy, exemplified by McFadden slinging a pass into touch. But as the half neared its conclusion, they found another gear, scoring three tries in four minutes.
Scrumhalf Boss wriggled over from close range after Ireland had pounded at the Russian whitewash and then Earls worked an opening down the blindside with help from Trimble to score.
With the try-scoring bonus point already secure, the Irish ran in a fifth for good measure with Trimble hacking ahead and diving on the ball.
Just six minutes of the second half had elapsed when Ireland scored their sixth try, Earls easily breaking through a tackle by Artem Fatakhov to gallop over. It was not all one-way traffic, however, with alert scrumhalf Alexander Yanyushkin causing confusion in the Irish defence until Artemyev arrived to take the ball and score under the posts with Rachkov converting.
Ireland hit back with a lightening break from McFadden, but not for the first time they then fell foul of referee Craig Joubert’s whistle at the breakdown. The Russians still looked dangerous when they had the ball in hand, a fact highlighted when Simplikevich rode two tackles to touch down in the corner.
Some loose passing — most notably from O’Gara — saw play switch from end to end until quick hands from Jamie Heaslip sent Kearney over. Heaslip was becoming increasingly influential, but it was substitute Jennings who scored next when he burrowed over from close range.
Ireland struck one final blow when Buckley forced his way across the line after Sexton had neglected an overlap.
Ireland:Kearney; McFadden, Earls, Wallace, Trimble; O'Gara, Boss; Healy, Cronin, Buckley; O'Callaghan, Cullen; Ryan, O'Brien, Heaslip. Replacements:Murphy for Earls (49), Ross for Healy (49), Leamy for O'Callaghan (45), Jennings for O'Brien (56). Not Used:Best, Reddan, Sexton.
Russia:Artemyev; Simplikevich, Kuzin, Trishin, Ostroushko; Rachkov, Yanyushkin; Popov, Tsnobiladze, Khrokin; Antonov, Byrnes; Fatakhov, Garbuzov, Gresev, Sidorov. Replacements:Babaev for Ostroushko (67), Voytov for Khrokin (49), Matveev for Antonov (49), Sidorov for Garbuzov (65), Prishchepenko for Sidorov (49). Not Used:Travkin, Bykanov.
Sin Bin:Rachkov (7).
Ref:Craig Joubert (South Africa).
