Jones preparing for Russian rugby’s ‘toughest challenge’
“But you’ve got to get above that and continue to be positive, and I’m still incredibly positive about this group.”
Robbie Henshaw remains sidelined with his hamstring problem, but Schmidt defended the decision to take him to Japan.
It looks like the Athlone native will feature against Samoa on Saturday week, with Garry Ringrose starting his third game in 12 days tomorrow.
“We could have replaced Robbie Henshaw with somebody else but we knew that he’d be on the cusp of being ready for the game this Thursday and he is, but we feel that Garry is fully fit and there’s less risk. The sooner we play Robbie, just with that hamstring, the more risk there is,” Schmidt explained.
Meanwhile, Russia coach Lyn Jones is anticipating an Ireland backlash and has warned his players this will be the toughest game they have faced.
The Welsh supremo has made eight changes to his team, with former UCD and Blackrock College full-back Vasily Artemyev captaining the side from No 15.
“We are facing probably the toughest challenge that Russian rugby has ever faced,” he said.
“We take on one of the best teams in the world, Ireland. The challenge is huge but the enthusiasm and confidence in our team is very good, and preparation has gone well.”
Jones anticipates an even more difficult task after watching Ireland lose to Japan last Saturday.
“The dynamic of Ireland preparation, team selection and performance would have changed dramatically following losing to Japan,” he said, speaking before Ireland named their own team.
“It’s important for us to stop their maul, stop their scrum, so that we can play and defend on the neutral terms.”
Russia have performed well in their games to date, causing problems against Japan and Samoa before fading.
RUSSIA (team to face Ireland) – V Artemyev (capt); G Davydov, I Galinovskiy, K Golosnitskiy, D Simlikevich; R Gaisin, D Perov; A Polivalov, E Matveev, K Gotovtsev; A Garbuzov, B Fedotko; A Sychev, T Gadzhiev, V Gresev. Reps: S Selskii, V Morozov, V Podrezov, A Osrtikov, E Elgin, S Ianiushkin, R Khodin, V Ostoushko.