Rugby World Cup - Ireland v Tonga: All you need to know

After getting off the mark in Pool B with an 82-8 victory over Romania, Ireland face a step up in quality when they head for Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes to take on Tonga on Saturday.

It's just a third ever meeting of Ireland and the Pacific islanders, and they will be expected to keep up their 100% record over the 'Ikale Tahi', who boast a side with plenty of individual talent and recognisable names.

With the two toughest games against South Africa and Scotland still ahead of them, a convincing Irish win would build confidence further ahead of those games that will decide Pool B.

RADIO

Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 with Michael Corcoran and David Humphreys.

ONLINE

Follow a live blog on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News App followed by report, reaction and player ratings.

TV

Ireland v Tonga is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with coverage getting under way at 7pm.

RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player will also have live coverage of South Africa v Romania (Sunday, 2pm) and Australia v Fiji (Sunday, 4.45pm).

WEATHER

Conditions will be much different from last week's scorching weather in Bordeaux. There's a strong chance of rain for the Saturday night kick-off, with temperatures of around 22C and high humidity, which could be similar to the conditions Ireland faced in their warm-up win against Samoa last month.

This time four years ago, everything was rosy in the garden for Irish rugby after they opened their 2019 World Cup with a convincing win against Scotland, but it was the second game against Japan that saw the campaign go off the tracks.

If last week's facile win was never in doubt, this meeting with Tonga is certainly one that will focus the minds.

The Tongans come into the game ranked 15 in the world and their only wins this season