Ireland 35 Russia 3

Ireland survived a potentially tricky Rugby World Cup 2003 qualifier against Russia in Krasnoyarsk, scoring two tries either side of the break for an unspectacular 35-3 win.

Leinster fullback Girvan Dempsey set the early pace with two tries in the first half to send the Irish one step closer to Australia 2003, the boot of Ronan O'Gara supplying 15 points to make the scoreline look marginally more convincing in the end.

Despite some periods of domination for the Russian pack, Ireland never looked like losing this one, and tries from skipper Keith Wood and second-row Malcolm O'Kelly stamped their authority on the match as the second half wore on.

Early on, any hopes that the Russians had of containing the free-running Irish were dashed in the opening minutes when a neat grubber from O'Gara saw fullback Dempsey touch down in the corner.

Russia fly-half Konstantin Rachkov took on much of the attacking burden for the under-pressure home side, whose big forward pack gave the Irish a torrid time in the lineouts, especially early on.

Ireland's defence held firm though in the first quarter, and with the Russians gradually struggling to contain their more illustrious opponents, two O'Gara penalties took the lead to 11-0.

With the Irish enjoying more posession and territory, it was once again Dempsey who found himself on the end of a well-worked passage of play, touching down his second try after O'Driscoll had started the move further down the pitch.

O'Gara converted, and despite yet more Irish pressure near the Russian line, 18-0 to Ireland was the half-time scoreline.

It was 13 minutes into the second half before Ireland extended their lead further, captain Wood rumbling over from hooker after a Kevin Maggs pass, O'Gara making no mistake with the extras.

With the Irish pack finally asserting some ascendancy, second-row Malcolm O'Kelly went over for a businesslike try from a lineout, O'Gara's conversion taking the lead to 32-0.

Despite the late sin-binning of Leinster prop Reg Corrigan, O'Gara another penalty for Ireland towards the end, Russia's Werner Pieterse registering the home side's only points with a penalty of his own before the whistle.

While Ireland may look upon this game as being mission accomplished, their lack of assertiveness in some quiet passages will give coach O'Sullivan food for thought going into their November Test programme, and also their home qualifying date with Georgia in Dublin.

For the defeated Russians, next Sunday's clash with bitter rivals Georgia in Tbilisi in front of a huge local crowd will be weighing heavily on their minds, and they will have gleaned much from this promising performance.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Reg Corrigan, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Guy Easterby, Rob Henderson, David Humphreys, Paul Wallace, Leo Cullen, Alan Quinlan

Russia:  15 Alexander Zakarlyuk, 14 Andreï Kuzin, 13 Igor Dymchenko, 12 Alexeï Korobeinikov (W Pieterse 68), 11 Alexeï Sergeev; 10 Konstantin Rachkov, 9 Viktor Motorin, 8 Viacheslav Zykov, 7 Renier Volschenk (A Khrokin 62), 6 Viacheslav Grachev, 5 Sergei Sergeev, 4 Valereï Phedchenko, 3 Johan Hendriks (I Nikolaichuk 62), 2 Roman Romak, 1 Oleg Shukailov (M Uambaev 73)

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Dempsey G.T. 2, O'Kelly M.E. 1, Wood K.G.M. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 3

Russia
Pen K.:  Pieterse