Ireland 62-12 Russia
Jack Leahy
Sports Editor
Ireland have reclaimed their place at the summit of Pool C with an impressive nine-try demolition of Russia.
There was a fluency and assurance about the weakened side rarely seen in Irish sides over the last few months as Fergus McFadden, Sean O’Brien, Isaac Boss, Keith Earls and Andrew Trimble all went over in the first half. 0-36 down at half-time, the game was already long since over for the Russians.
Earls touched down for his second early in the second half before Irish-educated Vasily Artemyev pulled one back for Russia and Denis Simplikevich added another.
But before any quixotic talk of comeback could gather momentum, Rob Kearney, Shane Jennings and Tony Buckley all made sure that Ireland’s utter dominance was reflected by the scoreboard.
As has become convention, an Irish team -weakened, on paper at least – started strongly with a Ronan O’Gara penalty and a burst of tries. Russian out-half Rachkov was sent to the sin bin for a cynical and deliberate knock-on and Ireland took absolute advantage as McFadden chased down O’Gara’s chipped kick and finished coolly.
O’Gara had no problems adding the extras, nor did he when given the responsibility after Jennings powered over from close-range. Scrum-half Boss stretched every inch of his short frame to touch down against the post’s padding.
The bonus point was secured before the half-hour as Earls sprinted into the corner and Trimble finished opportunely after another bout of cynical Russian play perversely afforded him an advantage.
Andrei Garbuzov, who had not made up his defensive yards, knocked the ball into Trimble’s path and he kicked ahead and gathered calmly for a try.
And the impressive Earls marked his brace with a surging run that saw him break two tackles and storm over for a converted try.
The game was ultimately one of positives for Declan Kidney’s side, but the pragmatist will no doubt be concerned by the ease with which Artemyev sliced through the Irish defence for his score. Simplikevich, fittingly, found the task of beating the green shirts similarly straightforward.
The game was already long over as a contest, but Ireland had the chance to pour on more points as Russia faded having played three games in the last eleven days. Kearney strolled over before Jennings and Buckley worked their way past the line in the dying stages of a free-flowing game.
