Tonga 19 Ireland 40 The second-last notice on the whiteboard in the Tonga team room charting the minutiae of Saturday's build-up to the Test match offered a simple message, "Time for War". It was listed just after the words "warm-up" and before "kick-off".
As things panned out it wasn't a war but there was one major casualty, Eric Miller. The match was emphatically in Ireland's grasp at the Teufaiva International stadium in Nuku'alofa when a Tongan forward brutally stamped on the face of the Irish number eight. Miller's scream could be heard in the back row of the stand.
The touch judge and referee Steve Walsh consulted and Tonga's hooker Villiami Ma'asi was sent off. They got the wrong man. Ma'asi was wearing moulded studs for starters and Miller saw flashing steel in the split second before he closed his eyes.
It proved a prescient reflex action as the boot broke his nose and lacerated his eyelid, the latter damage requiring four stitches.
"Another quarter of an inch," he mused. "I think I just managed to close my eye. It's just one of those reactions.
"I got three or four (stitches) in the eyelid and some on the nose. I saw the boot coming down. That's life. I hope he gets his punishment for it and I'm sure he will."
Miller has not being ruled out of the Samoa match this week although his participation must be deemed unlikely.
Sadly Miller's wishes will remain unfulfilled. Ma'asi was correctly exonerated by match commissioner, the International Rugby Board's Lee Smith, a New Zealander who once coached UCD. He confirmed that the video evidence was inconclusive, something that made him angry because the perpetrator deserved to be severely punished.
The incident was totally out of character with the contest, both teams playing with a physicality and aggression that may have made bodies ache but was within the parameters of the law.
The sin binning of Paul O'Connell and Tongan captain Inoke Afeaki late in the match was for a contretemps that wouldn't have looked out of place at the January Sales.
Instead, players bemoaned a pitch surface that was akin to taking a cheese grater to your skin. It's not so much sand as powdered coral that top-dresses the pitch and this allied to a concrete-like surface was hugely punitive physically.
Girvan Dempsey was a late casualty, the victim of "Tongan tummy", his place at full back going to Mark McHugh.
Schoolboy dreams about international debuts don't carry small print that offers a guarantee against bad things occurring. The Connacht player dropped a couple of high balls, the second of which led to a try for Tonga and was also ridiculously penalised for an alleged late tackle that allowed Tongan right wing Pierre Hola - he contributed all 19 of his team's points - to kick a penalty.
A treacherous wind was a significant mitigating factor and it was a measure of the player that he recovered from those nightmares that would have mentally broken a lesser player, to contribute positively, and not just with his 78th-minute try.
Ireland had a second debutant on the day, Simon Best winning his first cap when replacing Justin Fitzpatrick after 65 minutes.
Coach Eddie O'Sullivan professed himself pretty satisfied, not just with the victory but also the performance, pointing out it was a team that had never played together, with many of the units new. He also lauded Tonga's display, especially in the first half.
Certainly some of the Irish problems that surfaced in the first 40 minutes could be attributed to a lack of familiarity and Tonga did have first, and made clever use of, the wind; but a large portion of Ireland's difficulties were self-inflicted, manifest in a high error count.
Tonga did keep control of the football well at times and certainly deserved their 11-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Hola kicked a couple of penalties and scampered over from a straightforward 8-9-14 move on the shortside from a five-metre scrum that Ireland defended sloppily.
Ronan O'Gara kick-started the Irish revival with a brace of penalties. He had a fine game, not alone in his distribution but also in his defensive duties.
When Hola kicked a third penalty to nudge the Tongans 14-6 ahead a murmur went through the crowd, a significant moment.
Supporters of Ikale Tahi, to use the local name for the Tonga rugby team, don't cheer or shout unless something on the pitch moves them, irrespective of which side it is. They applaud good play and burst into laughter when someone makes a mistake. They were a happy crowd on this afternoon.
Mike Mullins did superbly in the build-up to a try for scrumhalf Guy Easterby, while his centre partner Jonathan Bell, Ireland's outstanding player on the day, gave a neat reverse flick to John Kelly to cross for a second. O'Gara converted both to leave Ireland 20-14 ahead at the interval, a lead they scarcely deserved.
When Tonga were reduced to 14 players following Ma'asi's sending off, the outcome was never in doubt. Kelly and Guy Easterby grabbed another try apiece while McHugh and Bell rounded off the Irish scoring.
In terms of individual contributions, Bell's was the most eye-catching. He ran strongly, choosing clever angles, defended aggressively and formed a potent midfield partnership with Mullins.
Kelly chipped in with a brace of tries, so, too, Guy Easterby (he took both well), but he was a little cumbersome in clearing sloppy ruck ball.
The Irish set-piece play was something of a curate's egg, excellent out of touch but laboured in the scrum. O'Connell was the best of the pack, followed by Miller with Leo Cullen and Simon Easterby doing the less glamorous chores to good effect.
It was far from scintillating - they are still not nearly clinical enough in exploiting chances - but Ireland go forward to Apia in Samoa for Friday's Test having rediscovered an appetite for winning. The scope for improvement is significant but they should manage that. They'll need to.
SCORING SEQUENCE
4 mins: Hola penalty, 3-0; 9 mins: Hola penalty, 6-0; 19 mins: Hola try, 11-0; 23 mins: O'Gara penalty, 11-3; 30 mins: O'Gara penalty, 11-6; 32 mins: Hola penalty, 14-6; 38 mins: G Easterby try, O'Gara conversion, 14-13; 40 (+2) mins: Kelly try, O'Gara conversion, 14-20. Half-time: 14-20. 44 mins: Kelly try, 14-25; 61 mins: G Easterby try, 14-30; 66 mins: Hola try, 19-30; 78 mins: McHugh try, 19-35; 85 mins: Bell try, 19-40.
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: V Vaki for Naufahu 46 mins; E Taukaka for Latu 61 mins.
IRELAND: M McHugh (Connacht); J Kelly (Munster), M Mullins (Munster), J Bell (Ulster), T Howe (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), G Easterby (Rotherham); J Fitzpatrick (Castres), 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: D Wallace (Munster) for Miller 60 mins; S Best (Ulster) for Fitzpatrick 65 mins, D O'Callaghan (Munster) for Dawson 81 mins; G D'Arcy (Leinster) for McHugh 81 mins.
Sin Binned: P O'Connell (Ireland), I Afeaki (Tonga) both 78 mins.
Sent off: V Ma'asi (Tonga)
Referee: S Walsh (New Zealand).
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