Joe Schmidt says his side will not be frustrated by their uninspiring performance against Russia and that he is realistic about the effect conditions had on the game.
The 35-0 victory over Russia was not the flawless confidence-building performance Ireland would have been hoping for after last weekend's defeat to Japan, rather the game was marked by consistent errors and a feeling that they should have done better than their five tries.
Speaking after the game, Schmidt said that Ireland's performance was an improvement compared to last weekend's loss to Japan.
"There were more things that pleased me [today] definitely. We started really well again. We got those two early tries as we did last time but then we made a bit of hard work of it."
"The plan", Schmidt said, "was to try and get a few scores early," because the longer the game went on the more moisture would affect the game.
While that plan worked, Schmidt was asked whether his side again lost its way in the middle part of the game as they had against Japan.
"I don't think we lost our way we just didn't convert some chances. When you look back there were some really good chances."
"In that third quarter, there was a little bit of frustration on the back of CJ Stander's line break, where we came very close to scoring. It was frustrating that we lost the ball in the tackle.
"At the same time, I am pretty realistic as to conditions out there having spoken to the players afterward. We controlled a large proportion of the game albeit not scoring.
"I don't think it is something that will cause too much frustration. As I said, in this tournament, you get what you need from each game as much as you possibly can."
Looking ahead, Schmidt said his side knew they now had to put in a performance against Samoa.
"If we get a win there we know we are in the mix. If we can get a win and anything else then we know we are qualified."
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