Defeat is not an option for ambitious

TEST MATCH / Tonga v Ireland: This Test match is about attitude. Tonga's physicality, direct running and teeth-rattling tackling don't require video dissection. Predictable they may be, but they are no pushovers.

The home side wear the red jersey with an ebullient pride, and the demands they will place on Ireland are to match that passion and aggression.

In the build-up to the match, Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan issued a blunt ultimatum: stand up and be counted in this game or face watching the World Cup at home on television. Denied a host of front-line players, this match and next week's against Samoa in Apia represent opportunities to challenge the pecking order.

The focus all week has been on how Ireland want to play the game, considering the conditions: a concrete surface lightly sprinkled with patches of grass and a temperature that could be in the high 70s or low 80s.

The visitors need to control the tempo, play their patterns, focus on precision in the set pieces and clinically exploit their chances: all areas in which they proved sub-standard - scrums aside - against Australia.

Two defeats in as many matches coming off a 10-game winning sequence this season should rankle with the Irish team management, and they certainly won't tolerate a third successive loss.

This isn't some young, naïve Ireland team; rather, it is a collection of seasoned internationals who all covet a plane ticket to Australia later this year. Tomorrow is where this A+ team starts earning it.

Tonga head for Australia next week, where they will play Queensland and the ACT Brumbies before facing their Pacific Island neighbours Fiji and Samoa in their own version of the Tri-Nations. This match will give them an inkling of just how far they have to go to compete meaningfully in a World Cup group that includes New Zealand, Italy, Wales and Canada.

They will be joined next week by three more of their overseas players. The team includes six players who ply their trade in New Zealand, including the Auckland openside Stanley Afeati and Wellington's David Palu at scrumhalf. Three others - prop, Tonga Lea'aetoa, number eight Usaia Latu and centre John Payne - play in Australia.

One name that will be familiar to the Irish players, particularly Keith Wood and Paul Burke, is centre Johnny Ngaumo, now playing in France but formerly of Harlequins.

Outhalf Tony Alatini is a brother of former All Black centre Pita, while the team will be led by second row Inoke Afeati, who plays in Japan.

Coach Jim Love masterminded a 27-game winning steak while at the helm of the New Zealand Maoris, so it is reasonable to assume that his team will be well prepared.

It is not yet confirmed whether the king of Tonga, immersed as he is in the five-day wedding celebrations of his granddaughter, will attend, but a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd is expected from the kingdom's 60,000 inhabitants.

The Ireland team, with four survivors from the Australian defeat, spent most of the week working on a fast rucking game and, given the opposition, spent long periods during training sessions on defence. Girvan Dempsey will want to atone for a surprisingly insecure display in Perth, while the introduction of the hard-running Mike Mullins and Tyrone Howe in the three-quarter line should provide Ireland with a cutting edge.

The key figure behind the scrum, though, is outhalf Ronan O'Gara. His decision-making skills will have a huge bearing on the outcome given a reasonable supply of possession.

The Munster player could have gone home after the Australia match but chose instead to reinforce his claims for the number 10 jersey come the autumn.

Up front, Reggie Corrigan leads a pack that includes an experienced front row with just one change from Subiaco, with Justin Fitzpatrick coming in for Marcus Horan. Corrigan continues his education at tight-head prop on a memorable day for the Greystones man as he leads his country onto the pitch for the first time.

Ireland's lineout was very poor in the first half against Australia, but in Paul O'Connell and Leo Cullen, starting on tour for the first time, they possess two young, athletic locks.

The back row is a bit like a school reunion, with Simon Easterby, Eric Miller and Kieron Dawson given an opportunity in their preferred positions.

Ireland must be expected to win this game and with a little to spare. Tonga only managed a 10-10 draw with a New Zealand Divisional side that compromised second and third division club players last week, and make only two changes, Latu and Johnny Ngaumo, for this match.

For the visitors, the priority is a good team performance underpinned by individual excellence and rediscovering an aptitude for winning. Anything else would constitute a serious setback.

TONGA: G Leger; P Hola, J Ngaumo, J Payne, S Mafileo; T Alatini, D Palu; T La'aetoa, U Ma'asi, H Lauaka; M Ngaumo, I Afeati (capt); N Afeati, V Latu, S Afeati. Replacements: tbc.

IRELAND: G Dempsey (Leinster); J Kelly (Munster), M Mullins (Munster), J Bell (Ulster), T Howe (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), G Easterby (Llanelli); J Fitzpatrick (Ulster), S Byrne (Leinster), R Corrigan (Leinster, capt); P O'Connell (Munster), L Cullen (Leinster); S Easterby (Llanelli), E Miller (Leinster), K Dawson (London Irish). Replacements: P Shields (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), B O'Meara (Leinster), P Burke (Harlequins), G D'Arcy (Leinster).

Referee: S Walsh (New Zealand).