defence to the extent that they now use

South Africas Test captaincy is not up for discussion and will return to AB de Villiers once he is match fit. De Villiers has been sidelined since July with an elbow injury and has been replaced by Faf du Plessis, who has yet to lose a match in his stand-in stint, but will have to hand the job back when de Villiers returns.At the moment its clear to us that Faf is stand-in captain and AB is the current captain when he comes back, looking at his fitness and so on, Linda Zondi, South Africas convener of selectors, said after the Hobart Test.Although the board and not the selection panel appointed the captain, Zondi said the directive is likely to be to give de Villiers his job back once he is back on the park. When de Villiers underwent surgery in late September, he was diagnosed as needing eight to ten weeks of recovery time which should put him on track to play the home series in Sri Lanka in December-January. De Villiers will not have had any game time since mid-July, when he turned out for the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League.Zondi has not expressly said de Villiers will need to play some domestic cricket but has indicated that the panel would like him to have some game time. We will be guided by the medical team in terms of where he is and in terms of match fitness, Zondi said. Thats important. He has been away for five months - a long time. For starters, he has to be match fit. We will take it from there.Should de Villiers need to play some cricket, his only opportunity will come in the domestic T20 competition. There was some talk of de Villiers joining the squad ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide, which is preceded by a two-day warm-up game in Melbourne, in a bid to put himself in contention for the pink ball Test but both coach Russell Domingo and stand-in captain du Plessis had brushed off such suggestions. To that end, de Villiers had not traveled to Australia yet, and it appears unlikely that he will.That would mean du Plessis has at least one more match in charge to add to a legacy against Australia that has already seen the team make history. Du Plessis led the ODI side to a first-ever 5-0 whitewash against Australia and a third successive Test series win in Australia. He has impressed with his skills as skipper and Zondi admitted the selectors were pleased with the way du Plessis had progressed.We nominated Faf to be a stand-in captain and he has done a very good job, Zondi said. It was an easy process for us when the decision was made because he was already a T20 captain. So it was continuation. We are excited to have him as a leader.It just gives us more options. And we have other guys. Like I said, Hashim Amla, who also brings that experience. We are quite excited about how Faf has shown leadership but we are not going to be carried away.It may be surprising to hear Zondi mention Amla among the leaders, especially after he stepped down as captain earlier in the year. However, Amla is the most experienced batsman, and in the absence of Dale Steyn, the most experienced member of the squad overall, and although he has only contributed 48 runs across the two Tests, has been involved in team discussions and at the forefront of celebrations. Alfred Malone Jersey Store . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Mike Nott Jersey Store . 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The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. Brian ODriscoll is excited. His body may hurt a little less than his playing days, but his rugby mind stays as active as ever and he is keeping a close eye on the progress of two young Ireland and Leinster centres.?Watching Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose for Leinster strikes a nostalgic chord with ODriscoll, who knows a thing or two about the arts of rugbys midfield having played 133 times for Ireland, and when he starts waxing lyrical about their potential then you take notice.Leinsters 16-8 win at Connacht on January 4, 2014, was no landmark match in the big scheme of things -- Gordon DArcys match-winning try wasnt especially unique -- but it was the first time when the present and great Ireland partnership met the future in then Connacht No. 13 Henshaw.DArcy and ODriscoll were coming to the end of their rugby careers but there was something about Henshaw that stayed with the Leinster and British & Irish Lions legend. ODriscoll never played competitively against Ringrose, but similarly, his first encounter with the future Ireland centre left a lasting impression.?With Garry, the first time I saw him I thought he had huge promise, BT Sport pundit ODriscoll tells ESPN. He was with the Ireland U20s and they were training against the national team about three years ago. You could tell immediately he was pretty special.He was a lot skinnier then, he was pretty slight but his running angles were exceptional. He had a nice passing game and clearly had something different to his peers.Robbie grew on me, the more I saw of him. He was young when he first played for Connacht as an 18 or 19-year-old but what immediately stood out was in the first game I played against him, I tried to see if he had an edge and he certainly wasnt taking any backward steps.He wasnt going to be bullied around the place. Theyre going to complement one another beautifully and theyre pretty unique.DArcy and ODriscoll played a record 56 matches alongside each other in Irelands midfield. Leinster teammates Ringrose and Henshaw are yet to play together forr Ireland -- the closest they came was when Ringrose replaced Henshaw in the early stages of their match against New Zealand in Dublin.dddddddddddd.The true acid test of any partnership is at international level but ODriscoll believes the two of them can take their form with Leinster to the next stage with Ireland.Theres huge potential there. I am very excited about watching them develop, ODriscoll said. The two of them are playing provincially together for the first time and youre looking at an opportunity of them playing in the national jersey as well.Knowing how young they are, they can forge a long-lasting centre partnership. They complement each other beautifully.Robbie Henshaw is the perfect 12 for the modern game -- hes big, physical but very skilful. And Garry Ringrose is a good tackler and elusive with bundles of pace and a great offloading game. They complement one another with Johnny Sexton at 10 and Joey Carbery. They have an embarrassing of riches there.The two link up again in Saturdays Champions Cup clash between Leinster and Northampton at the RDS. Ringrose and Henshaw tormented the Saints last Friday in a performance which reminded ODriscoll of the great Leinster team that won three European titles in four years from 2009 to 2012.He credits Stuart Lancaster with bringing an increased intensity to their defence to the extent that they now use it as an attacking weapon with Ringrose and Henshaw instrumental to that new approach.ODriscoll feels normal service has been resumed at his former province complete with a young all-Ireland partnership in the centres and there is a growing excitement that Leinster are on the way back to greatness.Tune in for round 4 of the European Rugby Champions Cup with Leicester v Munster, Saturday December 17 at 15:15, followed by Leinster v Northampton Saints at 19:45 and Sale v Saracens on Sunday December 18 at 17:30, exclusively live on BT Sport 2. ' ' '