Ireland have had to come to Asia to begin their campaign to earn European qualification for next year's World Cup, a three-sided if theoretically seriously mismatched battle with Russia and Georgia forced on the Irish because of defeat by Argentina last time round. So here they are, 2,200 miles east of Moscow and welcome to Siberia.
Not far north of this bustling industrial city of just under one million souls is the Gulag archipelago, and less than 200 miles south is the border with Mongolia. "It doesn't seem it's a place that would trigger a lot of interest as a holiday destination," said the Ireland captain Keith Wood.
But it also happens to be a hotbed of Russian rugby. Ireland's visit is big news - tonight's match, with a 20,000-plus crowd expected, will be the biggest sporting event ever seen in these parts - and after an exhausting 16-hour journey from Dublin the Irish were greeted by television crews on their arrival. The locals take their rugby seriously here, and the visitors will find the atmosphere hostile.
"We had about 20,000 fans for the Italy game in 1998, but the Krasnoyarsk Central Stadium has been repaired since then so there should be more than that watching," said Valery Davydov of the Rugby Union of Russia.
Nobody doubts it will be physical tonight, though there is less certainty about the identity of the officials charged with keeping control. The French referee Joel Jutge elected to travel under his own steam, rather than on the IRFU's charter out of Dublin, and late yesterday nobody knew where he was. So Chris White could fill in - he is due to run the line along with Robin Goodliffe - with another touch judge being drummed up from elsewhere.
The Russians meanwhile are dreaming of a spectacular breakthrough. "We respect Ireland and their professionalism and they have very good players," said the veteran home captain Sergei Sergeev. "But it will be a tough game."
Developing the sport is a massive problem for the Russians, what with the vast distances and the impossible winter weather - though now, at the end of autumn, it is warm and sunny.
Their South African coach James Stofberg has recommended that the Russian squad spends from November to January training somewhere other than Siberia. But that requires state funding, and unless they can qualify for Australia next year there is not much chance of that.
In the meantime they soldier on in what we would consider impossible circumstances. "I know what the problems are and we need a lot more money to keep the game going in Russia. There's not a problem with the willingness and eagerness of the players. It's a question of not being able to come together when you want to," Stofberg says. "When it's 25-30C below (-13F to -22F) we have to train in a big hall where they train the horses. We have very good gym facilities and we have indoor athletic tracks but you play rugby on a rugby field, not indoors."
Ireland are first-world in comparison. They will have to deal tonight with a side who will be brave and combative, but when the Irish depart tomorrow it will be to a training camp where their every need is catered for. Chances are that injuries will rule out a repeat of the same starting XV for next week's qualifier against Georgia in Dublin, but unlike the Russians Ireland will have a stack of replacements on hand. A trip across the world might after all prove more instructive than inconvenient.
Ireland : G Dempsey; J Kelly, B O'Driscoll, K Maggs, D Hickie; R O'Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, K Wood (capt), J Hayes, G Longwell, M O'Kelly, S Easterby, A Foley, K Gleeson.
Russia: A Zakarlyuk; A Kuzin, I Dymchenko, A Korobeinikov, A Sergeev; K Rachkov, V Motorin; O Shukailov, R Romak, J Hendriks, V Phedchenko, S Sergeev (capt), V Grachev, V Zykov, R Volschenk
Referee: J Jutge (France).
