Johnny Sexton has had his cod liver oil. The right peg is swinging free and easy and he pings two cross-field probers to opposite wings in quick succession.

The first very nearly picks out Andrew Conway and Keith Earls knocks on as he attempts to gather the second over the top of German Davydov.

That would have been a try if he had taken it...

Michael Morrow
BBC Sport NI at the Kobe Misaki Stadium

Betting men would back Ireland to go on and get the bonus-point from here, you'd say.

'The boys are back in town' blares around the Misaki Stadium, which in an Irish context is far too premature.

That said it is, in fairness, a terrific song.

Ireland just have to keep going, never letting up. They have to dominate this for 80 minutes.

Russia have been forced into a change because centre Igor Galinovskiy copped a big bang on his knee as he slid into post along with Peter O'Mahony.

He comes off on the stretcher and Vladimir Ostroushko is on in his place.

Luke Fitzgerald
Former Ireland back on BBC Radio 5 Live

Ireland get the turnover and Johnny Sexton's biggest differentiating factor is his decision-making close to the line. It's a great execution and a good finish by Peter O'Mahony.

A let-off for Ireland. Russia's line-out is not straight and then the Bears' scrum crumples south,

Johnny Sexton will be able to boot a penalty up towards halfway to relieve pressure.

That was very un-Ireland.

A big boot towards the Kobe roof from Ramil Gaisin should be meat and drink for Rob Kearney, but the Ireland full-back gets his wires crossed with Andrew Conway and both leave it to the other.

The ball bounces, Denis Simplikevich is not far from gathering and Ireland conceded the line-out five out from their own line.

Peter O-Mahony is the picture of innocence as he is pinged for being half a yard offside at the breakdown.

Ireland had some problems with that law during their defeat by Japan.

Are they getting over-eager? Or are the referees being tighter on the margins than they were earlier this year?

Something is up certainly...

Luke Fitzgerald
Former Ireland back on BBC Radio 5 Live

Ireland will be happy to hedge their bets with their line speed in these conditions. Maybe they will come up a little bit harder than they normally would.

Russia sniff a gap in midfield as Bundee Aki bombs up in defence, trying to score a big hit behind the gainline.

But Igor Galinovskiy is smothered as he attempts to get free.

Luke Fitzgerald
Former Ireland back on BBC Radio 5 Live

Fantastic set play. They are really good at manipulating the numbers at the break down and it's a super finish from Rob Kearney. Excellent work from Ireland.

Image source, Reuters

Jerome Garces is on the whistle. Ramil Gaisin drops out and Bundee Aki gathers cleanly and hits up.

Luke McGrath's box-kick is keenly contested by Keith Earls and that comes back Ireland's way.

Solid start.

Image source, Getty

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, speaking to ITV Sport: "Joey Carbery had a bit of ankle soreness after the captain's run, it might have been a bit of jarring. Conor Murray wanted to get out there after last week so that made the decision to put him on the bench a bit easier.

"Johnny Sexton is fit, he could have played last week, but has had 11 days since Scotland which is comfortable.

"I thought we started well against Japan, but to be fair they forced the issue and we became hesitant and anxious so today I would love to replicate that start and then build on it."

Luke Fitzgerald
Former Ireland back on BBC Radio 5 Live

It will have been a difficult week for the boys, they will have looked at the video intensely and looked at where they went wrong but then moved on.

It’s about getting the fundamentals right today and I think Johnny Sexton could be the defining difference.

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Matt Dawson
England World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

Statistically, eventual winners tend to win all seven games.

Today will not be a problem for Ireland. They will get the bonus-point win and Russia will blow out of steam. The focus will be on the quarter-final but if you are going to win the tournament you have to beat everybody.

Listen now to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. Click at the top of this page or tune in via BBC Sounds.

Peter O'Mahony pulls his team in tight on the pitch to issue some rallying words and Ireland huddle up again in the changing room.

They look like they are already on a rolling boil. There are some big points to be proved today.

Expect a fast start from the men in green.

Matt Dawson
England World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

It doesn’t need ramming down your throat when you have been beaten by someone you should ordinarily have beaten.

There will still be plenty of focus by Ireland and they still are in control of their own destiny.

Image source, Getty

Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell: "We know the stats from the last two games that have been here - 30 handling errors in one and 35 in the other. It's being able to adapt to that. How do we adapt? We make sure there's a no-excuse mentality."

Michael Morrow
BBC Sport NI at the Kobe Misaki Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

After this tournament Andy Farrell will make the transition from defence coach to head coach.

That makes for pretty exciting news if you're a reporter covering Irish rugby, with his straight-talking press conferences very reminiscent of his no-nonsense style of rugby during his time as a player in both codes.

Yesterday Farrell spoke of a 'no-excuse mentality', and that subjects including the five-day turnaround, humidity and refereeing were nothing but distractions for his side, who have to take care of business regardless of what the competition throws at them.

One would think that short of a literal robbery, there are not too many excuses that would be accepted in the event of a Russia win today.