South Africa lock forward Victor Matfield has said that Ireland's Paul O'Connell is "the best player I've played against".

Matfield will come face to face with O'Connell on Saturday as Ireland host South Africa in their first Autumn International, before they go on to play Georgia and Australia.

"I think he is a fantastic player, I think he's probably the best I've played against in my career. He is also a student of the lineout. You can see he puts in a lot of hours in analysing, preparing and getting his whole unit ready for the weekend", he told reporters.

"It is always a great battle against him and he has some great jumpers with him in that unit so we know it's going to be very tough."

Matfield has played 117 times for South Africa and helped them win the 2007 World Cup.