• Bonus-point victory has Ireland on course for quarter-finals
It feels like there are two different Irish sides in this World Cup, one with Johnny Sexton, which thumped Scotland, and the one without, which lost to Japan.
Against Russia, we saw both. Sexton played the first 40 minutes, and Ireland led 21-0 at half-time, then Joe Schmidt wrapped him in tissue paper and popped him back in his box to keep him safe for the next Test. Jack Carty came on, and Ireland laboured horribly against a Russian side who spent 13 of the next 20 minutes playing with 14 men because they had two players in the sin-bin. Right now, Sexton is holding this World Cup campaign together.
Written by Andy Bull at Kobe Misaki Stadium
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/03/ireland-russia-rugby-world-cup-match-report under the title “Ireland get World Cup campaign back on track with hard-fought Russia rout”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
