Ireland 'must be wary of Russian strengths'

Romania vice-captain Alin Petrache has some simple advice for Ireland ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Russia – don’t give them the ball.

Petrache was in the Romanian side which beat Russia 27-22 in Krasnodar last March and then overcame Georgia in Tbilisi a fortnight later.

Now Eddie O’Sullivan’s team face Russia at the end of this month in Krasnoyarsk before taking on the Georgians at Lansdowne Road a week later on September 28.

And Petrache, who plays his club rugby in France with Racing, warned: “They [Russia] are good in scrums. They are very good and very fast in the line-out because they have some very big guys.

“They have a lot of France-based players like us as well which means they have good experience.”

Petrache gave particular praise to Russia’s giant 6ft 7ins lock Sergei Sergueev, adding: “Their second-row can cause problems – especially Sergueev. He is very tall and he has played well in France too.

“But if you have a good defence, you can win easily. They play always with big guys and play off their number eight all the time.

“Their scrum-half always plays inside, always at angles. So if you defend well you can win, but if you give them the ball they can give you many problems. They know how to play.”

Romania’s French coach Bernard Charreyre is confident, however, Ireland should successfully come through the qualifying phase after watching them comfortably beat his side 39-8 at Thomond Park on Saturday, when the hosts had romped to a 29-point lead by half-time.

“Ireland can play better than they did against us, I’m aware of that,” he said.

“They played very well in the first half, but less so in the second.

“It’s always very hard to deal with playing international rugby at the beginning of September.”

Charreyre reckoned the game was ideal preparation for Romania’s own World Cup qualifiers at home to Italy at the end of the month and then Spain on October 5.

He said: “Our objective is to qualify for the World Cup and our most important game is our qualifier against Spain.

“We knew Ireland were far better than us, but I’m pleased with our performance, especially in the second half.

“It’s very important for us to know exactly where we stand.”