Bundee Aki expects to meet 'outstanding' South Africa again at Rugby World Cup

Bundee Aki expects to see South Africa again further down the road in the Rugby World Cup after Ireland edged a gruelling battle 13-8 at the Stade de France in Paris.

If Ireland beat Scotland on 7 October then South Africa will almost certainly face France in the quarter-finals. But the Pool B rivals could meet again if they both go all the way to the final.

"Fair play to the boys for playing that well today," the Connacht centre said. "South Africa are an outstanding team.

"They're not world champions for no reason. They give it to us right from the beginning to the end.

"They put us under an immense amount of pressure but we trusted each other. The belief we have in our group is outstanding.

"We’ll probably see them again. They’ll probably play a bigger game and there’s going to be a lot more pressure on us.

"We’ll see how we go with the week off and then regroup for Scotland."

Aki said he was "lost for words" after being named Player of the Match for the second game in a row, an announcement that was greeted with a huge reaction by the estimated 30,000-strong Irish support in the Stade de France.

"These Irish fans are incredible. I’ve never witnessed anything like it. The travelling crowd is a joke and it’s only going to get bigger and crazier from here on in."

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Winger James Lowe also put in a big performance and admitted to RTÉ Sport: "I'm going to be sore tomorrow, I’m not going to lie.

"They’re a big physical team, they pride themselves on being combative and they