Preview: No half measures allowed for Ireland's Tonga task

Go hard or go home.

That may well have been Andy Farrell's mantra this week.

Japan four years ago, Samoa three weeks ago, Uruguay on Thursday against the French – there are enough warning signs out there that taking a team lightly based on their world ranking can easily end in pain.

Tonga are 15th in the world, faced massive disruption at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and are on a relatively new cycle, given the difficulties in assembling consistent squads for training camps and the Pacific Nations Cup.

Indeed, they finished bottom on the pile beneath Fiji, Samoa and Japan just this summer.

But Farrell is giving them full "respect", as he should. He can worry about the world champions next week. Talk of wrapping players in cotton wool for South Africa was scoffed at this week.

Ireland may be on a 14-match winning run but, in truth, haven’t really hummed since beating Les Bleus in Dublin on the way to a Grand Slam last February.

The so-called second string haven’t really done enough – against Italy or Samoa – to give him the confidence to play a similar strength outfit today.

Was naming all but two of the side that beat the All Blacks to claim the series last year in his plans originally when this fixture was discussed?

Probably not and as positive as the 12-try 82-8 win over Romania was last week – with Johnny Sexton back in harness unscathed – 'Lads, it’s Romania’.

So these horses, with just scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and hooker Dan Sheehan out, go to work again.

The ideal scenario is that Ireland get the heavy lifting done early.

Farrell called the second-half performance against the Oaks "ruthless" and transferring that mindset and execution to the first 40 minutes of this game will give him breathing room to withdraw