The notion of Ireland flourishing in near 40C heat would have seemed far-fetched not so long ago. As it turned out, their fluent offloading and imaginative running lines proved perfect for making Romania wilt in sweltering Bordeaux last Saturday.
After the anomaly of Gabriel Rupanu’s early try everything went more or less to plan, the notable exception being a misfiring lineout which the head coach, Andy Farrell, will be intent on fixing.
The inside-centre Bundee Aki produced a particularly sublime performance, carrying for 191 metres including five line breaks, in a collective effort in which Ireland ran in 12 tries.
Thousands of Irish fans in France hope for more of the same on Saturday night, but Farrell knows it will be a significant step up against Tonga. Ireland’s longer-term aim is to carry momentum into Pool B meetings with South Africa a week on Saturday and Scotland two weeks after that, but it would be foolish to take their eye off the ball against the Pacific islanders. Respect for Tonga – as well as the quality available to Farrell – is illustrated by four changes to the starting XV after last week’s 82-8 win.
Josh van der Flier comes in at No 7 to take his place in a combative back row alongside Peter O’Mahony at No 6 and Caelan Doris at No 8. Conor Murray teams up with Johnny Sexton at half-back for the 69th time, while Mack Hansen replaces Keith Earls on the wing and Ronan Kelleher starts at hooker. Aki, James Lowe, Garry Ringrose and Hugo Keenan start in the backs for the second week running. In the forwards the same applies to Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan, along with O’Mahony and Doris.
The late-summer heatwave has certainly been problematic although mercifully things are cooling off; a relatively comfortable 22C is forecast for kick-off at 9pm local time.
“I was thinking of putting a jumper on today,” said Furlong on Friday. “It’s been like an oven, or someone blowing a hair dryer in your face the last few weeks.”
Tonga will attempt to turn up the heat regardless as they kick off their tournament, and the inclusion of four former All Blacks demonstrates the extent to which they have benefited from new eligibility rules.
The head coach, Toutai Kefu, has selected Charles Piutau at full-back, Malakai Fekitoa at outside-centre and Augustine Pulu at scrum-half, with Vaea Fifita packing down at No 8.
“They’ve had a massive input already, on and off the field,” Kefu said. “The biggest difference is off-the-field stuff – mindset, professionalism, a really good attitude, so that’s been refreshing and the younger players have observed that. They’ve raised the level of standard and expectation of all the players.”
Piutau’s career has included spells at Wasps, Ulster and Bristol Bears after starting out in his native New Zealand, and the 31-year-old will be playing club rugby in Japan after the World Cup.
“He is a serious player, isn’t he?” said the Ireland full-back Keenan of Piutau. “He is a real danger for them and he has shown it for years now. They have threats across their backline and in the pack so we’ve got to familiarise ourselves with them, but we’ve known some of their threats for years.”
The wing Solomone Kata, who is bound for Leicester next season after a year in the Premiership with Exeter, was asked if Tonga’s players may feel intimidated by the Irish-dominated crowd in Nantes. “I fear for them,” he said, laughing. “It’s going to be a good challenge for the boys.”
