Ireland v Tonga - Sun (Sat GMT)

[Lizard]

Tonga should have no chance. I think this could be a fairly grim encounter.

(Yes, in a fit of wild optimism I did check the Irish Board before posting this)

[Lizard]

Tonga:
15 Charles Piutau
14 Afusipa Taumoepeau
13 Malakai Fekitoa
12 Pita Ahki
11 Solomone Kata
10 William Havili
9 Augustine Pulu
8 Vaea Fifita
7 Sione Talitui
6 Tanginoa Halaifonua
5 Halaleva Fifita
4 Sam Lousi
3 Ben Tameifuna (c)
2 Paula Ngauamo
1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi

Replacements: 16 Sam Moli, 17 Tau Koloamatangi, 18 Sosefo Apikotoa, 19 Semisi Paea, 20 Solomone Funaki, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Sonatane Takulua, 23 Fine Inisi

For those keeping count, this line up includes 4 former All Blacks, 4 other NZ U20 reps, an Aussie U20, one non-All Black NZ 7s player, plus a dude who was in the NZ Residents League side.

[Lizard]

RELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw.


Hmm. Fekitoa on Aki. Tasty.

[Son of Mathonwy]

RELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw.


Hmm. Fekitoa on Aki. Tasty.

They're taking it seriously then.

[Puja]

RELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw.


Hmm. Fekitoa on Aki. Tasty.

They're taking it seriously then.

Given they were given a hurry-up by Samoa in the warm-ups, I don't think they can afford not to. That Tonga side is probably not good enough to seriously trouble them (it's been less than the sum of its parts so far this year), but it's good enough that they absolutely cannot be cocky about it.

Puja

[Son of Mathonwy]

RELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw.


Hmm. Fekitoa on Aki. Tasty.

They're taking it seriously then.

Given they were given a hurry-up by Samoa in the warm-ups, I don't think they can afford not to. That Tonga side is probably not good enough to seriously trouble them (it's been less than the sum of its parts so far this year), but it's good enough that they absolutely cannot be cocky about it.

Puja

Yeah, I guess they've had their easy match.

[bruce]

Touch of a forward pass from Sexton for the try

[16th man]

Isn't that obstruction with the ball dropped down to the second from the front of the maul?

[bruce]

There an impressive team mind.

[morepork]

Fuck. They are so hard to stop when their phases get rolling. Come on Tonga.

[16th man]

Pretty effective 10 - 15 minutes from Ireland.

[16th man]

Someone might have had a word with the refs about pens in the red zone after the other night.

[J Dory]

Tonga doing ok. Quick try after half time and we have a game.

[UKHamlet]

The Tongans don't look as massive as they used to. Certainly not as big as the Fijians and Samoans.

[16th man]

The Tongans don't look as massive as they used to. Certainly not as big as the Fijians and Samoans.

The pack is still 950+ Kilos.

[morepork]

The Tongans don't look as massive as they used to. Certainly not as big as the Fijians and Samoans.

Horses don't necessarily make sensitive lovers Hammy.

[16th man]

Oh, mate. You're clean through. Don't just drop it.

[UKHamlet]

The Tongans don't look as massive as they used to. Certainly not as big as the Fijians and Samoans.

The pack is still 950+ Kilos.

Yeah but they're all fatboys

[Which Tyler]

[16th man]

There were moments last night when the Tongans clicked, and the undeniable talent in the team was obvious, but there were way too many unforced errors, and the lack of cohesion was fairly mercilessly exploited by Ireland.

Not sure how many, if any lessons are there to be taken from that ahead of next Saturday's game.

[Lizard]

Tonga seem quite badly under-coached given the talent in their squad. I guess it’s tough when you don’t get much squad time with players all over the globe.