JOE SCHMIDT AND Ireland will be happier than anyone when kick-off against Russia rolls around this evening at 7.15pm in Kobe [11.15am Irish time, eir Sport/RTÉ].
While they will be playing in very uncomfortable conditions at the Kobe Misaki Stadium in their third World Cup Pool A game, it has been an uncomfortable week for them following last weekend’s shock defeat to Japan.
Getting back into action on the pitch will be hugely welcome for a group of players who are keen to begin putting that upset in Shizuoka behind them.
Even a very strong bonus-point win over the Russians, ranked 20th in the world, won’t cure the doubts many supporters now have over Ireland’s World Cup prospects, but it would mark the start of the healing process for Schmidt’s men.
The head coach has made 11 personnel changes to his team, with only Peter O’Mahony, Keith Earls, Rob Kearney and Garry Ringrose retained, and Schmidt will hope that degree of freshness proves decisive in producing a hungry, focused performance against the Vasily Artemyev-captained Russia.
Out-half and key man Johnny Sexton’s presence should drive improvement, while the powerful Bundee Aki is back in the number 12 shirt outside him.
The returning Sexton has also been named Ireland captain for the very first time at the age of 34, in what feels like a big statement by Schmidt.
O’Mahony is in the XV and has been the second-choice captain behind Best recently, but Schmidt is calling on Sexton to lead here and his team-mates believe the out-half is well suited to the task.
“Last season, with him being the club captain at Leinster, I had a huge amount of experience playing under him,” said flanker Rhys Ruddock.” But the natural leadership he displays was evident long before he captained me.
“He demands such high standards of himself, first and foremost. Even if he’s not training, he’ll always be looking to improve – in the video room, in the gym – and that just sets a tone for the people around him.
“He’s been no different this week. Obviously it’s been a tough week for the group but he has definitely led in the way he has driven himself and everyone else on.”
After that tough week, Ireland are ready to begin looking forward.
“It’s been a five-day turnaround so we have no choice,” said scrum-half Luke McGrath. “It’s best that we look forward rather than back. We’ve looked back at things we can do better but we’ve had to move on which, in some ways, is a good thing.”
McGrath is one of the 11 fresh faces in the team, with two players – John Ryan and Jean Kleyn – making their first appearances at a World Cup.
McGrath’s familiarity with Sexton from Leinster should help their cohesion in the decision-making halfback positions, while an all-Munster tight five of Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, and Kleyn should prove effective.
O’Mahony moves to openside in a back row that also includes Ruddock and Jordi Murphy, who only arrived into the country on Sunday night.
“It is a bit of an ask because it’s not ideal and it’s a World Cup,” said assistant coach Andy Farrell of Murphy, who starts at number eight. “That’s the situation that we’re in.
“If you asked Jordi when he got off the plane would he want to sit this game out or not, he’d have answered that he wants to get stuck in right away. He’s been great in the last couple of days, he’s slotted right in.
“He knows his stuff, the experience he’s had within our group. In terms of getting the travel out of your legs, of getting him into the mix of it, he’s up to speed. He’s not missed a beat since he’s been here.”
Meanwhile, Garry Ringrose goes again at 13 – his third start in 12 days – with Chris Farrell and Robbie Henshaw missing through injury, while Earls and Kearney are joined by Andrew Conway in the back three.
Russia have made nine changes to their starting team, with several front-liners rotated out after defeats to Japan and Samoa in their opening two games. Former Blackrock and UCD man Artemyev will be keen to make an impression against some familiar faces, while assistant coach Mark McDermott – another ex-Blackrock man – will have had useful knowledge this week.
Jerome Garces will be in charge of the game, with Schmidt scrutinising his decision-making after pointing out that the Frenchman made two incorrect offside calls against his team from the sideline in the Japan defeat.
Regardless of the match official and the tough conditions in the stadium in Kobe, there are no excuses for Ireland – they simply must respond to losing to Japan with the big bonus-point victory that allows them to keep their quarter-final destiny within their own control ahead of a final pool game against Samoa.
“We look back to our last result and that’s enough, you know,” said Farrell of Ireland’s motivation.
“It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing against this week, whether it’s Russia or New Zealand. The same applies – it’s about getting back on the horse and putting in a performance.”
Ireland:
15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Conway
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Bundee Aki
11. Keith Earls
10. Johnny Sexton (captain)
9. Luke McGrath
1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. Jean Kleyn
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 (captain)
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
Referee: Jerome Garces [France].