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."
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 really brought it to us.
"There were some serious performances from our forward pack to front up. We don't quite have a similar bench to them [seven forwards] but they managed to get us over the line today for sure.
"The boys played well. We probably gave them a few too many opportunities and put ourselves under pressure a bit but at the end of the day we came out with what we set out to get.
"I reckon we've earned a bit of belief. We’ve been through a bit. We’ve gone away to New Zealand and played well. We’ve played well at home, especially in the Six Nations."
"We didn’t perform to the standard we were hoping for but we got more points than them. It’s not knockout rugby yet but we’re happy with it."
Garry Ringrose went off for a head injury assessment after a crunching hit but was cleared to come back on, Robbie Henshaw replacing him during that time and again from the 64th minute.
He was grateful for the all-clear and that South Africa missed several kicks when Ireland were just two points ahead.
"The independent doctors look after all that," he said. "I just had to come and get a little 10-minute break and then Robbie was ready to go and did unreal.
"They are special days to be a part of. Seeing all the Irish support was amazing and I feel privileged to be a part of it.
"To beat a team with that quality you need everything you have and even a bit of luck, which I think we got in the second half.
"We'll watch a bit of rugby this weekend. The challenge then will be to dust ourselves off for an unbelievably tough test coming up in two weeks."
