Ireland v Russia Betting Tips [3 October 2019]

World number two Ireland (second, six points) will have a lot on their plate to recover and mount a charge for top-two spots when they play the bottom-placed Russia (fifth, zero points) in Pool ‘A’.

Ireland were stunned 19-12 in their previous World Cup fixture by Japan. Tries from Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney gave the World number two early lead, but Japan’s resilience meant the Irish lost for the first time to a non-Tier One nation at the World Cup. The bright spot for Ireland is the performance of Jack Carty, who was on only his second international start. His nerveless kicks from hand led to the two Irish tries, although they didn’t prove enough in the final analysis. Kearney with his try now has four in his last five World Cup games and has five in the tournament overall. This loss shouldn’t mask the positives of their 27-3 win over Scotland in their tournament opener. Ireland are still in control of their destiny in the Pool and should fancy their chances.

Russia are bottom of the Pool ‘A’ after consecutive losses and both by conceding bonus points. They started the tournament with a 30-10 loss to Japan and were them pushed aside 34-9 by Samoa. Russia took an early lead against Japan through wing Kirill Golosnitskiy. However, their joy was shortlived and they were caught out by the speedy Japanese. Even in their next game against Samoa, Russia led at the break with two penalties from Yury Kushnarev. However, a second half blitz from Samoa despite getting reduced to 13 men was enough to brush aside the spirited Russians. The short turnaround time didn’t help Russia – both mentally and physically – leading them to another bonus point loss.

Ireland were stunned by a resurgent Japan in their previous game and can ill-afford another loss. Russia have been the whipping boys of the pool so far, but will fancy their chances without much expectations. That said, it is a match for Ireland to lose.