Earls hails Aki influence
Ireland wing Keith Earls expects big things from potential debutant Bundee Aki ahead of the November series opener against the Springboks on Saturday.
Adam Byrne, Chris Farrell and Darren Sweetnam are the other uncapped players that have been included in Joe Schmidt’s 38-man squad to face South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.
And Earls has praised the impact the newbies have had on the group while singling out Connacht powerhouse Aki for special mention.
“He’s come in in flying form,” Earls told RTÉ Sport of Aki.
“He’s been brilliant since he’s come over to Ireland with Connacht.
“He’s a great player; you get 100% off him every time. He’s physical, he’s quick and he can ball-play as well. Hopefully we get a chance in the future to link up.
“It’s very exciting,” he added of the other new men in camp.
“They bring their own talents and their own unique personalities. It’s brilliant. The main thing is we’re all excited to get back into the Aviva.
“We haven’t been in there in a couple of months and especially to get one of the big teams there as well… The lads are buzzing.”
“Joe would kill me if I looked past Saturday!”
In the series played in South Africa in June last year, the Boks won 2-1. Ireland led 1-0 after a 26-20 victory in Cape Town but the Boks responded with a 32-26 reverse in Johannesburg before sealing the series with a 19-13 win in Port Elizabeth.
And Earls expects a much improved Bok outfit from the 2016 annus horribilis which saw the traditional powerhouses lose eight of their 12 matches.
This year, they have salvaged some pride with a 3-0 whitewash of France in June as well as running the All Blacks close in the Rugby Championship, drawing twice with the Wallabies and beating the Argentines twice.
“With South Africa, a lot has changed since 2016. There’s a lot of new faces in there now, especially in the back line,” Earls said.
“They’re flying. It’s going to be a massive challenge.
“Before, you’d look at a South Africa team and say they’re all just crash-ball, crash-ball, physically. Now they’re trying to out-smart you as well as kicking and running hard.
“It would be nice to get the three wins, but we’re not going to look past Saturday. Joe would kill me if I looked past Saturday!”