Buzzing.

Munster winger Keith Earls says the Irish players are ‘buzzing’ ahead of this weekend’s Guinness Series opener against South Africa at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

The Limerick man has also welcomed the new additions to the squad, heaping special praise on Bundee Aki.

Earls is a huge admirer of the Connacht centre who recently became eligible for Ireland, and says he cannot wait to hopefully get a chance to play alongside him.

“He’s come in in flying form,” Earls told RTÉ Sport.

“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.

Earls says they’re all very excited to pull on a green jersey again this month.

“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.”

In terms of this weekend’s opposition, Earls knows they’ve got a huge challenge on their hands.

“With South Africa, a lot has changed since 2016. There’s a lot of new faces in there now, especially in the back line.

“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!”