Ireland v South Africa: Jacob Stockdale and Bundee Aki start for Irish

Jacob Stockdale will make his first Ireland appearance on home soil against South Africa on Saturday in Dublin.

The Ulster wing is joined in a new-look back-line by debutant Bundee Aki, with Andrew Conway replacing the injured Keith Earls in the opening autumn Test.

Stockdale made his debut against US Eagles in the summer and has scored five tries for Ulster this season.

New Zealand-born Aki earns his first Ireland cap after recently qualifying under the three-year residency rule.

Jacob Stockdale starts but there is no place in the Ireland squad for his Ulster team-mate Stuart McCloskey

His inclusion means there is no place in the match-day squad for Ulster's Stuart McCloskey or Munster's Chris Farrell.

The Connacht centre's promotion to the national team has provoked a lot of debate regarding the residency rule, which World Rugby have recently extended from three to five years.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt admitted he has sympathy for the player at the centre of the storm.

"Sometimes where you are born is less relevant to where you have invested in the last period of time and I think Bundee has invested incredibly well in the west," said Schmidt.

"They have benefited from his experience, his commitment and his durability. Bundee has played an immense amount of minutes for Connacht.

"It's an unfortunate distraction. I do feel sympathy for Bundee. He's just doing what he loves doing and what he's very good at, but we hope it doesn't distract him.

"There's no question in the group's mind. They're excited to have him in the group."

Schmidt favours form

Schmidt confirmed that Earls, who picked up a training ground injury, is a doubt for the entire autumn series.

Ireland play Fiji and Argentina on 18 and 25 November respectively.

Cian Healy steps in to the front row for Jack McGrath, who picked up a hip injury in training while CJ Stander lines up against his native country in the back row.

Darren Sweetnam is poised to earn his first cap off the bench.

Schmidt explained: "We were looking for form players. We wanted to reward players who were playing well for their provinces and we also wanted experience. I think we have both."

Iain Henderson and Tendai Mtawarira will both be in action in Saturday's game in Dublin

Springboks make three changes

South Africa have recalled props Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira and Coenie Oosthuizen, as well as inside centre Damian de Allende as they make three changes from the 25-24 defeat by New Zealand last month.

Loosehead prop Stephen Kitshoff can count himself unlucky to lose his place in the starting XV after impressing against the All Blacks but Zimbabwe-born Mtawarira is the team's most experienced player with 95 Test caps.

Oosthuizen has recovered from an arm fracture sustained against the Wallabies in September and takes over from Ruan Dreyer while De Allende comes in for Jan Serfontein who has moved to French side Montpellier.

"Continuity is important and we have kept changes to a minimum," said coach Allister Coetzee.

Ireland have won four of their last six Dublin contests between the teams although the Springboks won their last two meetings in South Africa in the summer of 2016 as they recovered from an opening Test defeat to record a 2-1 series victory.

Ireland: Rob Kearney; Andrew Conway, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best (capt), Tadhg Furlong; Iain Henderson, Devin Toner; Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien, CJ Stander

Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock, Kieran Marmion, Joey Carbery, Darren Sweetnam.

South Africa: Andries Coetzee; Dillyn Leyds, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Courtnall Skosan; Elton Jantjies, Ross Cronje; Tendai Mtawarira, Malcolm Marx, Coenie Oosthuizen; Eben Etzebeth (capt), Lood de Jager; Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Francois Louw

Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff, Wilco Louw, Franco Mostert, Uzair Cassiem, Rudy Paige, Handre Pollard, Francois Venter.