Cape Town – Dillyn Leyds will start at wing for the Springboks in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies in Bloemfontein.

Leyds will replace an out-of-sorts Raymond Rhule, who was on Tuesday released from the Springbok squad to play for the Cheetahs in the PRO14.

S’busiso Nkosi was also released to play for the Sharks, which leaves Leyds and Courtnall Skosan as the only recognised wings in the Bok squad.

Jesse Kriel will be the back-up wing in case of an injury.

It will be Leyds’ first start for the Springboks, having played three Tests as a substitute against France in June.

The decision to drop Rhule, who slipped nine tackles in the 57-0 loss to the All Blacks, is undertsandable but nevertheless puzzling given comments made earlier in the week by coach Allister Coetzee.

Coetzee on Monday defended Rhule and indicated that the player won’t be dropped.

“Don’t forget how good Raymond was against Australia. I’m not a coach who will look at one poor performance and chuck someone away. He was outstanding against the Wallabies,” Coetzee was quoted as saying on SuperSport.com.

“There were a few areas where the All Blacks targeted us, but we will work on that and get better. In the seven Tests Raymond has played, he has gained a lot of experience, so now do I just throw him out and start all over again with a new player?”

Other expected changes to the Bok team will come at scrumhalf where the fit-again Ross Cronje will replace Francois Hougaard, while Francois Louw could also feature in the loose trio.

Coetzee will name his Springbok side on Thursday.

Prague – World No 2 Roger Federer handed Team Europe the maiden Laver Cup title after beating Team World’s Nick Kyrgios in a super tie-break thriller on Sunday.

Federer, this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, won 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 11/9 to give Team Europe an unbeatable 15-9 lead.

But the 36-year-old Swiss legend struggled against the 20th-ranked, 22-year-old Australian and his flawless serve, losing the first set on a single break.

When he finally broke Kyrgios halfway through set two, he yelled “Come on!” in relief, only to lose his serve again in the next game.

But Federer capitalised on the system of the tournament he had founded – forcing Kyrgios into longer exchanges, he edged him in the second-set tie-break, then came back from 8-5 down in the decisive super tie-break.

“I was ready to go. The boys played fantastic all weekend,” said Federer. “We knew it was going to be tough.”

The start of their clash saw the controversial Kyrgios briefly kneel on the court in a gesture which sparked speculation that he was joining the ongoing protest against US President Donald Trump.

A host of NFL players chose to kneel in games across the US on Sunday during the playing of American national anthem in a demonstration against racial inequality.

Team Europe, the odds-on favourites with five of the world’s top seven players, entered Sunday with a 9-3 lead which narrowed as Jack Sock and John Isner beat Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic in the opening doubles rubber.

On Sunday, the winner of each rubber earned three points, against one on Friday and two on Saturday.

Alexander Zverev then took Europe within sight of the trophy by beating Sam Querrey in straight sets, but world number one Rafael Nadal missed his chance as he lost to big-serving John Isner in straight sets.

Sock and Isner beat Berdych and Cilic 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6) with Sock’s vicious forehand leading the charge on the American’s 25th birthday.

In the day’s second rubber, a break in each set was all German youngster Zverev, the world number four, needed to beat 16th-ranked American Querrey 6-4, 6-4 in their first-ever encounter.

Isner’s moment was yet to come as the world number 17 edged Nadal, this year’s French and US Open champion.

Nadal lost his serve in game one with a double-fault before Isner’s errors helped him draw level in game ten, but Isner broke back at once and finished the set with the help of two second-serve aces in the last game.

He then swept Nadal in the second-set tie-break after both held on to their serves.

Skippered by Bjorn Borg, Team Europe also comprised Dominic Thiem, while Frances Tiafoe and Denis Shapovalov played for John McEnroe’s Team World earlier in the tournament.

The organisers said Sunday Chicago would host the next edition of the Laver Cup at the United Centre sitting 23 500 people on September 21-23, 2018.

Results from the third and final day of the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague on Sunday:

Team Europe 15 Team World 9

John Isner/Jack Sock (World) bt Tomas Berdych/Marin Cilic (Europe) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6)

Alexander Zverev (Europe) bt Sam Querrey (World) 6-4, 6-4

John Isner (World) bt Rafael Nadal (Europe) 7-5, 7-6 (7/1)

Roger Federer (Europe) Nick Kyrgios (World) 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 11/9

Played on Saturday:

Roger Federer (Europe) bt Sam Querrey (World) 6-4, 6-2

Rafael Nadal (Europe) bt Jack Sock (World) 6-3, 3-6, 11/9

Nick Kyrgios (World) bt Tomas Berdych (Europe) 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 10/6

Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal (Europe) bt Sam Querrey/Jack Sock (World) 6-4, 1-6, 10/5

Played on Friday:

Marin Cilic (Europe) bt Frances Tiafoe (World) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/0)

Dominic Thiem (Europe) bt John Isner (World) 6-7 (15/17), 7-6 (7/2), 10/7

Alexander Zverev (Europe) bt Denis Shapovalov (World) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7-5)

Nick Kyrgios/Jack Sock (World) bt Tomas Berdych/Rafael Nadal (Europe) 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 10/7

Note: The players earned a point for each win on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday. If a rubber was tied 1-1, a 10-point super tie-break was played instead of the third set.

Cape Town – SA Rugby is reportedly planning on forming two new franchises by the end of the year.

A tender process will begin on October 4, with the national rugby governing body looking to have eight professional teams with a four/four split between the southern and northern hemispheres.

At present, South Africa has four franchises (Lions, Sharks, Stormers and Bulls) in Super Rugby and two (Cheetahs and Southern Kings) who play in Europe’s PRO14.

The two new franchises could play in Europe’s Anglo-Welsh Cup.

“We have four teams in SANZAAR; we have two in PRO14 and the other two will start to develop to play somewhere. Hopefully something like the Anglo-Welsh as a development tournament. At the right time in 2020 we can then make a decision on where our bases are,” SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux said in an interview with the New Zealand Herald.

Roux however emphasised that SA Rugby remains to SANZAAR beyond 2020.

“We believe we are as strong as we are because we play Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. We measure ourselves by those teams even though the north is getting better.”

Earlier this year there were calls for South African rugby teams to join the Anglo-Welsh Cup in Europe.

The Anglo-Welsh Cup is a knock-out competition featuring the 12 English Premiership clubs and the four Welsh regions.

According to BBC Sport, Premiership Rugby was investigating the possibility of introducing South African teams into the competition.

It’s not sure which two franchises SA Rugby is planning to form, but it may come from two Currie Cup Premier Division teams, Griquas and the Pumas.

Johannesburg – The Currie Cup has been played out below the radar this season, but the big Springbok defeat to the All Blacks has ensured that the world’s oldest domestic competition will come into much sharper focus this coming weekend.

READ: Jaco Kriel’s season over

READ: Mitchell – Boks need new exits strategy 

Bok coach Allister Coetzee’s praise for the performances of some of the members of the back three of the team that was humiliated in Albany was either a case of the management staff being in denial or wanting to protect players that have been heavily criticised. If it is the latter it is understandable as that is the way coaches are and should be, but it is hard to believe that Coetzee is not going to be watching the wings and fullbacks in action in the Currie Cup with more than just a casual interest.

On Monday Coetzee released a clutch of players, including two players on national contracts who were initially precluded from playing domestic rugby, to the provinces. As stated, there is a need for those players to play as they haven’t seen much action recently, but several of them could also make a statement that could influence selection going forward.

The match between the Sharks and the Blue Bulls in Durban on Saturday could be particularly interesting in that regard, as Handre Pollard gets his first opportunity to play a full game in quite a while. Elton Jantjies hasn’t done anything yet to merit him being dropped but the questions are starting to be asked and if he doesn’t provide the answers and Pollard produces at Currie Cup level then his recall to the No 10 jersey may not be that far away.

Warrick Gelant is winning a lot of support for his potential to be the Bok fullback, although the incumbent Andries Coetzee did draw rave reviews from the Bok coach when the squad arrived back in South Africa on Sunday. Should he and Pollard line up in the same Bulls backline at Kings Park it could be a good measurement of where they are as the Sharks are the one consistent team in the competition and possess a good defensive game.

It would be naïve to equate the modern Currie Cup with anything like international level, but the Durban game, with the Bulls having shown signs of resurgence even in defeat to the Golden Lions last week, should provide a superior quality to most of the games we have seen in the competition this year.

Dan du Preez and Chiliboy Ralepelle are the two Bok tourists released to play for the Sharks and they too could have something to gain, particularly Du Preez, as the No 8 position is not cut and dried in the continued absence of Warren Whiteley.

Western Province shouldn’t encounter too much opposition from Griquas at Newlands but there are also several players in their team that could be looking to give Coetzee a little nudge by way of a reminder of what they can do. Damian de Allende has played only off the bench for the Boks recently but could profit if Coetzee decides to tamper with a midfield that was praised in the early parts of the season but is increasingly looking short of a genuine outside centre, with Jesse Kriel’s great pace and attacking skills perhaps putting him in line for a shift to wing.

Unfortunately the forward battle probably won’t be big enough for Wilco Louw to stake a claim as the Bok starting tighthead, but there again the Bok coaches should have seen enough of him and would know his capabilities. Wing Dillyn Leyds will also be back in Currie Cup action and enjoys a lot of support from sections of the Cape media but that support seems to ignore the fact that Leyds hardly qualifies as a solution to the main weakness of the Bok back three – that being lack of physical presence.

Unfortunately the Lions aren’t in action this week as they enjoy a bye. It might have been opportune for the two Lions centres, Harold Vorster and Rohan Janse van Rensburg, to be playing, though like Louw, the Bok coaches should know the capabilities of Janse van Rensburg in particular.

Talking of knowing the capabilities of players, a player not playing Currie Cup this weekend but worthy of watching in the PRO14 is Cheetahs captain Francois Venter. The man known as Swys went with the Boks to Argentina as a travelling reserve a few weeks ago but has generally been ignored after making his international debut on last year’s end of season tour.

All of this speculation about the centres is of course predicated on the belief that the Bok coach will by now be questioning whether the incumbent, Kriel, is really a centre and not perhaps a wing. He has the gas for the latter but perhaps not the tactical nous for the former.

Read the story on SuperSport.com

Johannesburg – When you hit rock bottom, there is no way but up – so goes the old adage.

News that Bafana Bafana – the supposed jewel in the South African football crown – have dropped 14 places to be ranked 80th by Fifa, came as a punch felt in the pit of the stomach.

However, nothing more was expected following the embarrassing back-to-back defeat at the hands of Cape Verde.

All sorts of questions have been asked as the blame game played itself out.

Yours truly feels that the current situation provides a great opportunity for the SA Football Association (Safa) to show quality in leadership by steering this ship clear of the stormy and murky waters in which it finds itself.

Nothing will earn Safa more plaudits than to see it come up with a turnaround strategy and then implement it successfully.

Safa, as the national governing body, is in charge of all football structures in this country.

From a six-year-old urchin called Tshifiwa in Nzelele to eight-year-old Vakuthethwa in the backwaters of Qoboqobo, 11-year-old Tetemani in KwaMhlabuyalingana and Tafiq in the Cape Flats, as long as they kick a football, they are Safa’s responsibility.

All the brittle-boned imaginary boys mentioned above have only one dream – to one day play for Bafana Bafana.

And when Bafana Bafana sneeze, the entire football fraternity, including followers and armchair critics, catch a cold.

As a country, we tend to be too harsh on ourselves, sometimes in almost all spheres of life.

As a great believer in the good in humanity, I do believe that we have world-class leaders in this country and even within football.

Proof is the 2010 World Cup, which we hosted with such aplomb, with then global football head honcho Sepp Blatter rating it the “best” World Cup ever.

Prior to that, Mzansi football administrators, led by the trio then known as the “Three Musketeers” – Molefi Oliphant, Irvin Khoza and Danny Jordaan – fought tooth and nail, claiming “we wuz robbed” after Germany pipped South Africa to the rights to host the 2006 global event.

So determined were they that they took the matter up with the highest sports court on the globe and roped in the best legal brains internationally.

It was that fighting spirit that led to Fifa deciding to rotate the hosting of the World Cup through the six continents. This put an end to the monotonous two-way hosting of the event in either Europe or South America that had been the status quo in Fifa’s almost 100 years of existence, with South Korea/Japan having tasted the fruit of hosting only once – in 2002.

It was South Africa’s fight that led to Fifa introducing the rotation system.

Africa became the first continent to benefit from this system, hence South Africa hosted the first World Cup on this continent’s soil.

It is this kind of bulldog-like tenacity that one is calling for in finding and administering the remedy that is needed to get Bafana out of their current quagmire.

Bafana do not inspire any confidence in their present state.

Can Safa – under the leadership of Jordaan – change tack and focus solely on football? Can it avoid being caught up in sideshows that involve individual spats, politics and the like, and concentrate only on matters football?

We know it can do it if it puts its mind to it.

The calamity facing Bafana Bafana needs vision and swift action.

One can only hope that, from being in the not-so-awe-inspiring 80th position, Bafana Bafana will rise again.

Rather than take this current situation as a failure, Safa must take it as a challenge from which South African football can rise like the proverbial phoenix.

They would do well to heed the words of UK novelist and screenwriter Joanne Rowling, who writes under the pen names JK Rowling and Robert Galbraith: “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Follow me on Twitter @Sbu_Mseleku