There is no talk of winning or losing in the Irish or the Russian camps this week. Nobody doubts which way the result will fall when they meet in Kobe tomorrow. This game will be about so much more than the numbers beside each nation’s name at the final whistle.

As Japan prepares to get Asia’s first Rugby World Cup underway at the Tokyo Stadium tonight (11.45am Irish time), it would be all too easy to forget their opponents as the planet turns its gaze towards the Brave Blossoms.

The crew of a mock trip to Mars ventured out after 257 days in a locked steel capsule today to trudge into a sand-covered room and plant flags on a planet.