Russia ... 3 Ireland ... 35 Uninspiring, but efficient; businesslike, bloody hard work and outta here. Running on to a singed, rock-hard surface at the Centralny Stadium with heavy legs, never mind when they trudged off it, Ireland got the job done.

Like Mexican bandits making off with the loot after a no-frills ambush from the hills, one imagines the universal shout in the post-match away dressing-room was the accompanying "Vamos". After another arduous trek home management and players will reassemble in Greystones today and simply count the cost.

Asked whether they'd be able to start preparing immediately for the second qualifier at home to Georgia next Saturday, coach Eddie O'Sullivan simply said "I don't know is the honest answer. Hopefully, we'll be on our toes by next Saturday."

The players will be glad when next Saturday night comes. They wouldn't be human if they didn't.

"I thought we looked very tired from the start," said O'Sullivan. "We couldn't put pace into our game and when they put pace into their game we struggled. We compounded that by playing too much in our half and our line-outs didn't go well.

"An issue was the travel. Coming seven time zones across the world is a big ask of anybody but I'll take the result. Happy enough. Relieved to get out of here."

Having laboured to an 18-0 interval lead, Ireland put away the pyjama silks and got out the mining helmets. "In the second-half the plan was not to speed up the game, but to get the ball in their half and slow the game down. So it wasn't a great spectacle of rugby. Overall, mission accomplished. Let's get home."

Much of it was a reprise of the Romanian game a fortnight before. Ireland rarely worked Brian O'Driscoll and the strike runners into space. Ireland again generated little tempo into their game, certainly not enough to burn these gamey Russians off. When the ball was taken up it was usually off Peter Stringer or Ronan O'Gara and was telegraphed, with little variety or decoy runners. Often they either took static, ball flat and on their heels, or if they had depth took the ball too deep, while the ruckers struggled to clear the ball cleanly.

O'Sullivan admitted Ireland struggled to get numbers to rucks and had a point when claiming Russia lived on the offside line. Against a more clinical Russian team, though, and certainly one with a kicker, Ireland wouldn't have got away with the sloppiness of their first-half display so unscathed.

Had the Russians converted their one good half-chance early on, or taken either of two first-half penalty chances they could have frayed Irish nerves.

It helped that Ireland scored early. A laboured passage of recycling established the pattern for the four tries and the manner of the win, John Hayes' second bull-like charge giving the passage badly-needed impetus, before O'Gara judged his diagonal kick perfectly for Girvan Dempsey, hugging the touchline, to gather chest high short of the line and score.

Still, Rachkov missed both a drop goal attempt, with referee Joel Jutge playing advantage, and the subsequent, routine 22 metre penalty and it was quickly apparent the Russians were no mugs. Defensively, they kept their numbers out and their shape, staying strong in contact, with good set-pieces and a strong line-out maul, while competing effectively on Ireland's throw.

With Ireland's line-out malfunctioning, one factor as much as any other helped them establish a sort of control. With Jutge rigidly applying the laws, the penalty count was 8-2 after half an hour and, importantly, after missing his first touchline conversion O'Gara overcame his misgivings about the lighter Summit ball to land his next six kicks.

A brace of three-pointers helped silence the crowd some more in pushing Ireland 11-0 ahead.

Keith Gleeson made some good yardage up the middle, O'Driscoll wriggled some more and from the recycle Gleeson skip-passed Wood for John Kelly to neatly put Dempsey away for his second try in the corner - O'Gara converting brilliantly.

Ireland tried a few moves, most didn't come off, but the one winner in the two games so far has been Kevin Maggs on the hoof cutting back in. Gleeson, again, was in support and Kelly, having done well to keep the move alive, from a recycle under the posts Wood sidestepped over for his 14th Test try. Amazingly, that footrace to emulate Brendan Mullins's 17-try landmark isn't confined to O'Driscoll (14) and Denis Hickie (13).

Though they'd seen one penalty for touch and line-out drive held up without undue bother to the Russians, Ireland continued to play for territory and stick it up their jumpers.

The hard soldiers put the work in, Hayes, Foley and Gary Longwell, while Gleeson was effective in spoiling and giving some moves continuity. And when in doubt throw it to Mal. O'Kelly gave his best performance of the embryonic season so far, dominating the line-out as Ireland simply threw everything at him in the second period and consistently making his presence felt around the pitch. He deserved his fourth try for his country, when following up Anthony Foley's quick tap and go penalty from close-in with his own pick-up and drive over the line.

Further pluses were they didn't wilt mentally or physically, save for a late flurry and a deserving penalty for the hosts, and they defended well. But it was hard work. It said everything about the nature of the win that they opted for another three-pointer at 32-0 with 12 minutes to go. Nothing came easy.

In a sense, not one to be writing home about.

Scoring sequence: 3 mins - Dempsey try 0-5; 24 - O'Gara pen 0-8; 26 - O'Gara pen 0-11; 29 - Dempsey try, O'Gara con 0-18; (half-time 0-18); 53 mins Wood try, O'Gara con 0-25; 61 - O'Kelly try, O'Gara con 0-32; 68 - O'Gara pen 0-35; 78 - Pieterse pen 3-35.

RUSSIA: A Zakarlyuk (Krasniy Yar); A Kuzin (VVA Podmoskovye), I Dymchenko (YeniseySTM), A Korobeinikov (same), A Sergeev (VVA Podmoskovye); K Rachkov (Montauban, France), V Motorin (VVA Podmoskovye); O Shukailov (Krasniy Yar), R Romak (Yenisey STM), J Hendriks (Krasniy Yar), V Phedchenko (same), S Sergeev (Montauban, capt), V Grachev (Montauban), V Zykov (Yenisey STM), R Volschenk (Krasniy Yar). Replacements: A Travkin (VVA Podmoskovye) for Hendriks, M Uaambaev (Krasniy Yar) for Grachev (both 62 mins), W Pieterse (Krasniy Yar) for Korobeinikov.

IRELAND: G Dempsey (Leinster/Terenure College); J Kelly (Munster/Cork Con), B O'Driscoll (Leinster/Blackrock), K Maggs (Bath), D Hickie (Leinster/St Mary's); R O'Gara (Munster/Cork Con), P Stringer (Munster/Shannon); R Corrigan (Leinster/Greystones), K Wood (Harlequins, capt), J Hayes (Munster/Shannon), G Longwell (Ulster/Ballymena), M O'Kelly (Leinster/St Mary's), S Easterby (Llanelli), K Gleeson (Leinster/St Mary's), A Foley (Munster/Shannon. Replacements: (temp) R Henderson (Munster/Young Munster) for Kelly (17-22 mins), L Cullen (Leinster/Blackrock) for Longwell (68 mins), P Wallace (Leinster/Blackrock) for Hayes, A Quinlan (Munster/Shannon) for Easterby (both 70 mins), S Byrne (Leinster/Blackrock) for Wood, G Easterby (Llanelli) for Stringer, D Humphreys (Ulster/Dungannon) for O'Gara (all 74 mins). Sinbinned: Corrigan (80 mins).

Referee: J Jutge (France).