Andy Farrell's surprising team selection for Ireland's second Rugby World Cup game shows how seriously he is taking the challenge of Tonga, writes Tommy Bowe.
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And with the South Africa match looming large, perhaps Farrell sees Tonga as the ideal preparation for the eagerly anticipated encounter with the Springboks in the Stade de France next week. But clearly Farrell sees it differently, and with Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose and Tadhg Beirne among those keeping their places, he has shown that he is not afraid to put a lot of his heavy-hitters in for the second week in a row.
He may be 38 now, but he looked fantastic. He led from the front, scored 24 points and escaped without injury. He looked like he hadn't missed a minute of rugby and that was really exciting for Irish fans. You could see Romania tried to target Sexton, too. They had little success, but Tonga are a much more physically imposing side.
The first half against Romania certainly wasn't ideal performance-wise, but Ireland looked ruthless and hungry when they stepped it up in the second half. People were worried about the heat but they showed no signs of struggling in the conditions. They adapted, executed and moved on.
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