Coach Toutai Kefu admitted his Tonga side had been totally outclassed by top-ranked Ireland in their World Cup opener on Sunday, but hoped they could land a few more punches in Pool B.
Ireland will hope to beat Tonga and come through injury-free on Saturday in their Pool B match giving themselves the perfect boost ahead of their Rugby World Cup meeting with defending champions South Africa.Ireland will be seeking to avoid a repeat of the upset defeat by hosts Japan in their 2019 pool game but Tonga have caused surprises in the past beating eventual finalists France in the 2011 pool match.
Ireland and Wales are taking a different view of their second matches at the Rugby World Cup that should be gimmes for the two European powers. While the Welsh are resting most of their front-liners against Portugal, the top-ranked Irish are sending out most of their big guns against Tonga on Saturday. Ireland will be looking to find rhythm heading into testing back-to-back games to close Pool B — against South Africa next weekend and then Scotland.