Ireland labour to bonus point against Russia
KOBE - Ireland got the expected bonus-point victory, but the fluent, accurate performance they would have wished for after their shock defeat to Japan never really materialised.
It was a victory that will hardly have sent a chill down the spines of either New Zealand or South Africa, their likely quarter-final opponents.
Russia may have been ultimately outclassed, but in frustrating Ireland for long periods they were never less than massively committed.
They left the field to a huge ovation from both the neutrals and the Ireland supporters. It was fully merited, with plenty of respect being shown by players of both teams.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, not surprisingly, chose to accentuate the positives. “There were more things that pleased me, definitely,” he said. “We started really well again and got those two early tries, as we did last time, and then made a bit of hard work of it. There was a bit of consternation in that third quarter when we didn’t get the bonus point try but it was great to see Andrew Conway streak away to get that fourth try.”