Ireland's Niall Scannell says he is not anticipating the humidity in Kobe to alter the way his team play when they take on Russia on Thursday.

Scotland beat Samoa at Misaki Stadium, where the intense humidity led to lots of handling errors of a slippery ball.

"Watching Scotland and Samoa last night, the humidity was pretty evident," said hooker Scannell.

"You are talking about players with a really high skill level that were struggling to hold a ball."

World Rugby dictates that all the games at the venue must be played in the same conditions, so Ireland's Pool A encounter will be played with the roof closed despite temperatures in the city reaching 30 degrees on Tuesday.

Munster's Scannell will make his first start of the tournament as head coach Joe Schmidt makes 11 changes from the side that lost 19-12 to Japan on Saturday.

Ireland's line-out, which was rock solid against Scotland, faltered against the hosts after an assured start and contributed to the significant amount of time Ireland were forced to defend.

The set-piece will again come under the microscope on Thursday inside a stadium where a high-number of turnovers have been a feature of the games played there so far during the tournament.

"Obviously I'm aware from a line-out point of view that it's going to be a factor conditions-wise for throwing the ball," said Scannell, whose job it will be to find his jumpers.

"It's just something we'll have to adapt to, and it's the old cliché but it's the same for both teams and hopefully it won't be a massive factor in how we attack."

'Hopefully it won't play a big factor'

Johnny Sexton will captain Ireland from the start for the first time on his 86th international appearance.

The fly-half, 34, missed the Japan game with a thigh niggle picked up in the first half against Scotland, which saw him pass over place-kicking duties to Conor Murray.

However on Tuesday he confirmed he will resume kicking responsibilities against Russia and, like Scannell, insisted the conditions would not significantly impact his side's game plan.

"Obviously when you hear an indoor stadium you think air con and (that it) may be a bit cooler but it's quite the opposite from what we hear," said Sexton.

"Even when you're playing outside the ball gets pretty slippery.

"The boys were saying against Japan, especially in the second half, the first half was bone dry but then the longer the game went on the sweatier everyone got, the ball was like a bar of soap," he added.

"We can't just go out and run everything but hopefully it won't play too big a factor."

Pool A is finely poised after the opening two rounds of fixtures, with second-placed Ireland one point ahead of Scotland and Samoa courtesy of their losing bonus-point last weekend.

Their advantage means that five-point wins in their final two games would secure passage to the quarter-finals regardless of other results.

Japan top the group on nine points with games against Samoa and Scotland to come.

New Zealand flanker Ardie Savea will wear protective goggles in Wednesday's World Cup match against Canada following fears he could go blind.

Savea, 25, revealed the sight in his left eye has been deteriorating and he will now wear specially-designed glasses to protect his right eye.

If he comes off the bench against Canada he will become the first player to wear goggles in a World Cup match.

"Obviously if my right eye goes, I might be potentially blind," he said.

"I've got my little girl and, hopefully, future kids and a bigger family, so I want to be able to see.

"I'm just thinking of the bigger picture and trying to protect my eyes.

"In terms of vision and seeing [with the goggles], it's pretty sweet, and it's now just a matter of getting used to them."

Following trials, World Rugby approved the use of goggles in May.

Italy fly-half Ian McKinley, who lost the sight in one eye after an accidental boot to the face, became the first player to wear the equipment in a Test earlier this year.

Savea, who has played 40 Tests, is one of two-time defending champions New Zealand's key players, but has been left out of the starting line-up to face Canada as coach Steve Hansen rotates his squad.

"A couple of years ago I realised I had bad vision in my left eye," he said. "Everything's kind of blurry.

"I told All Blacks doctor Tony Page it was getting worse and now we're doing something about it."

Assistant coach Ian Foster said the All Blacks have been monitoring Savea's eyesight for two years and have no long-term concerns about its deterioration.

"It looks a little bit different but it's not unique," Foster said.

"I think it's great Ardie has been willing to make a decision for his health and that he's going to follow through with it."

Joe Schmidt says Ireland have received feedback from World Rugby that three offside penalties awarded against them in the Japan game were incorrect calls.

Ireland fell to a 19-12 defeat by the tournament hosts in their World Cup Pool A clash in Shizuoka.

"It's pretty hard to keep getting off the line when you are getting those calls," said Ireland coach Schmidt.

"Two of them were from an assistant referee who is going to be refereeing us on Thursday."

Schmidt added: "So we know we're going to have to be on our best behaviour."

The coach bemoaned referee Angus Gardner's penalty count after Ireland squandered a 12-3 lead against Japan, who are now on the brink of a first-ever World Cup quarter-final appearance.

However, with the prospect of Thursday's must-win game against Russia looming, Schmidt claimed Saturday's shock result was "fantastic for the tournament".

"Everywhere we've gone, the Japanese people have been incredibly excited about the game," he said.

"It's great for our pool if you're an independent observer because it's thrown the pool wide open and everyone's chasing Japan in our pool now."

Despite the setback against Japan, Schmidt says Ireland will maintain focus on their "performance-orientated goals" as they look to get their World Cup campaign back on track with victory over Russia under the roof at the Kobe Misaki Stadium.

"For us, we can't put anything on the scoreboard without getting the things we need to put in place; that we build the pressure or that we create the opportunities from," said Schmidt.

"I felt the first 20 minutes last weekend were very good - we got the right field position and turned a few balls over which was frustrating.

"But we converted two tries on the back of some really good line breaks and maybe that was to our detriment because we stepped back after that and didn't play with the same front foot.

"You can't afford to do that against a quality opposition."

Ireland captaincy a massive honour - Sexton

Schmidt has made 11 changes for the Russia game, one of which sees fit-again fly-half Johnny Sexton return and captain the side for the first time.

Sexton, 34, missed the defeat by Japan with a thigh problem, but says he is fit and ready to lead Ireland into Thursday's clash.

"It's a massive honour," said the current World Rugby Player of the Year.

"I spoke to Joe this morning so I only found out myself over the last few hours.

"So I haven't even had a chance yet to tell my family or anything, but I'm sure they're going to be very proud as well.

"It's something that I've thought about since I was a kid; it's something that I've made a lot of decisions around trying to get there.

"It's taken a while but it was worth the wait and I'm incredibly proud."

While wearing the captain's armband represents another achievement in Sexton's career, he insists it won't be a significant change given his senior standing in the team.

"I want to be captain now of a good performance and a good win in a World Cup game so that's my focus now," he added.

"I don't think anything changes really for me.

"I have a big responsibility in the team for me anyway, so nothing's changed."

England's World Cup match against Argentina in Tokyo on Saturday will be like a "war", says Pumas hooker Agustin Creevy.

England are top of Group C with two wins from two while Argentina are second after a win and a defeat.

The Pumas will likely have to beat England to progress to the knockout stages after they narrowly lost to France in their opener.

"I think the battle is going to be in the forwards," Creevy said.

"We need to win the scrum, we need to win the lineout, the maul and the breakdown.

"Saturday's going to be like a war. It's a final for us."

England have won 18 of their 23 meetings with Argentina, including the last nine matches between the two teams.

Sport contests between the countries in the past four decades have often been played against the backdrop of the Falklands War between the UK and Argentina in 1982.

The conflict led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died during the conflict.

Diego Maradona has said his 'Hand of God' goal against England in the 1986 football World Cup was revenge for the Falklands while Fifa fined the Argentina Football Association £20,000 after its players displayed a banner in support of their country's claims to the Falkland in 2014.

Creevy, who played in England for Worcester Warriors, will become the Pumas' most-capped player if he makes an 88th appearance in Tokyo.

"Maybe my experience with Worcester will help me a lot, to see the way that it's going to play out," he said.

The forward praised England for the structured approach that has returned to its well-honed best this year - and as a result pushed them among the key challengers for a second World Cup.

"Sometimes it's boring but I think it's good for England. It works for them," he said.

"We train a lot in scrum skills and our mentality.

"I think we are improving a lot in the scrum. We feel really, really good now but we need to continue. The England scrum is really good."

Of the little green shoots and bright sparks around England's predictably comfortable progress through their opening two World Cup group games, Manu Tuilagi's second try against Tonga perhaps hinted at more than any other.

The first was hardly shabby, as he smashed and twisted and powered through the defensive line.

The second, too, wasn't only about the dummy run that sucked in two defenders and created time and space for the wide pass to Jonny May, or the supporting line to take a return pass from his winger and canter away.

It was all those things, but it was also the smile on Tuilagi's face as he approached the try-line.

No-one else in the England team plays with the same obvious enjoyment as the 28-year-old. And no-one else can quite do what he can when fit and in form.

Tuilagi told BBC 5 Live: "I always enjoyed rugby, since I started playing. But I just enjoy it more nowadays.

"I know now that it's not going to last forever, that I have to make the most of it.

"I'm just happy to be out there. You know, sometimes you take it for granted being able to train and being able to play but for me, going out there is what I love doing."

For too much of the past six years Tuilagi has been unlucky with injury but also slow to realise how an international rugby player now has to behave.

Since being one of the few on-pitch positives, aged just 20, as England crashed out of the 2011 World Cup, his list of misdemeanours and misfortunes have been long and varied.

They include jumping off a ferry into Auckland harbour, making a rabbit ears sign behind then-Prime Minister David Cameron's head, punching Chris Ashton, tearing his hamstring, serious problems with both knees, assaulting two female police officers and a taxi driver, and returning to the England hotel drunk during a pre-season training camp.

England coach Eddie Jones has stuck with him though, because he has been around long enough to know a gift when he sees one. A fit Tuilagi is like no other back in Jones' armoury, an unholy combination of power, speed, guile and menace.

Two years ago, when all was rosy in England's garden and he was less in need of him, Jones was being fulsome of a player few thought could make this World Cup.

"I know he can demolish the All Blacks, so he's worth time, he's worth effort and worth a lot of care," he said back then.

Now, when England have first dipped alarmingly then come back towards genuine contention for the biggest prize in their sport, Tuilagi is more precious than ever. Only Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola are more essential to the Jones blueprint.

"There were a lot of times I thought I might never play rugby again," admits Tuilagi. "I'm very grateful to be here.

"Eddie always kept in touch, all the time I was injured. He was good. It was nice to have that - to give a bit of help, a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I'm grateful to Eddie for that.

"He's 100% getting the best out of me. He knows how to get his players right individually, to manage his players and get them in the right frame of mind each game.

"He's been in the game at the top level for 20 or more years, and I think that experience helps him. His coaching is very clear and very straightforward.

"With every player it's pretty simple. When you're preparing for a game he'll come up to you and say one or two things to go for.

"In your head you know exactly what you want to do when you get out there, and it helps us massively."

Jones' defence coach John Mitchell has worked with explosive, powerful runners before, notably All Blacks legend Mils Muliaina at the 2003 World Cup, and gave two-time world champion Ma'a Nonu his international debut in the months leading up to that tournament.

In Tuilagi he sees a man who has changed in maturity, a player as comfortable at inside centre - where he played for England in this year's Six Nations - as at outside centre, where he has so far been pushed in this tournament as Jones has gone for the George Ford-Farrell axis at 10 and 12.

Mitchell says: "Manu understands that both roles have different defensive and attacking decision-making aspects.

"When he plays 12, he's closer to the attack and at 13 he gets to have a bit more speed and really run onto the ball, and it's a little more one-on-one rather than two-on-two as a 12.

"Defensively he has the ability when at 13 to spook the attacker. He doesn't always get a hit in, but when he does get hold of you he can certainly feed attack through good defence. He's also very comfortable in space as well.

"He just goes about his footy in a really quiet way. He's a 'doer' rather than a talker.

"He enjoys one-on-one conversations, and he's a good thinker on the game - when you go and have a conversation about a situation, he's really coachable.

"With the Manu we see now, the leadership is clear for him. He's being managed specifically, so I think he gains a lot of confidence from that, with the previous physical limitations he had from all those injuries.

"He's also grateful and respectful that he's at this tournament.

"You never know if you're going to get an opportunity on this world stage ever again, so there's a real sense of unfinished business in his eyes."