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Lewis-Skelly’s push to start in midfield for Arsenal
LONDON, England, August 7, 2026 – It has never been a straightforward journey for Myles Lewis-Skelly into the Arsenal first team.
The 19-year-old’s development has been rapid since his breakthrough in the 2024-25 season – he took his chance when injury was rife in the Arsenal squad to become one of the best young full-backs in the Premier League.
That form led to him breaking into the England squad and, in March 2025, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest man to score on England debut when he claimed the opener in a 2-0 win against Albania at Wembley.
A few months later, the academy graduate was rewarded with a new five-year contract.
What was most impressive about his breakthrough is that left-back is not even Lewis-Skelly’s natural position.
The teenager came through Arsenal‘s Hale End academy as a midfielder and has always maintained that is his best position, even if the role of full-back provided him the platform to showcase his talents in the Gunners’ first team.
The attributes that show why he was so highly rated during his time in the academy were easy to spot, even while starting in Arsenal‘s back four.
His ability to invert into midfield, protect the ball in tight spaces and burst away from opposition players are up there with some of the best in the division.
However, despite such a strong finish to his first campaign, last season was much more of a test for the teenager.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori, who Arsenal signed for £42m in 2024, regained his fitness and the Italy international’s versatility and maverick nature when going forward plays such a big part in the team’s attack.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta also brought in defender Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen on loan with an option to buy, which the club have now turned into a permanent deal.
With both players older and carrying more experience than Lewis-Skelly, minutes were hard to come by for the youngster.
Arteta said himself he had been “tough” on Lewis-Skelly.
But with Martin Zubimendi’s performances fading towards the end of last season, Lewis-Skelly was finally given a chance to showcase his ability in midfield against Fulham – with four games of the Premier League campaign remaining.
His performance was so good that Lewis-Skelly then started all but one game in the end of season run-in, as Arsenal won the Premier League title and were beaten by Paris St-Germain in the Champions League final.
Football in this era is as much about the business as it is about the game on the pitch and, with Lewis-Skelly an academy graduate, if the club were to sell him he would present “pure profit” on the balance sheet.
That is something that supporters do not like to hear, especially with a player who is one of their own and has such a bond with the club.
And that debate is something that Lewis-Skelly is aware of himself, writing the caption “pure profit” on a picture of himself with the Premier League trophy when Arsenal celebrated the title at Selhurst Park on the final day of last season.
Arsenal want to be a sustainable club and the transfer market encourages trading.
That is something that is greatly needed for the Gunners who, despite having room in their finances, have to think about selling after spending about £250m on new players last summer.
The club had considered listening to offers for Lewis-Skelly, but his excellent end to the season in his preferred central midfield position has been noted and that may have sparked a rethink over his status this summer.
Why Lewis-Skelly looks like he will start for Arsenal
It is important to note that the Gunners are moving closer to completing the signing of Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes for a fee which could be up to £80m – an arrival of that quality could put a barrier in front of Lewis-Skelly’s route into the first team.
But Lewis-Skelly’s talent, ability and history at Arsenal will always have him as a contender for game time, and this season could present him with a clear run at starting for the Gunners in midfield.
The World Cup’s late finish and the number of Arsenal players involved in the tournament mean his competitors for a starting place are going to be behind him in match fitness.
Captain Martin Odegaard, England midfielders Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze as well as Zubimendi and Mikel Merino, who won the tournament with Spain, are all yet to join up fully with the Arsenal squad.
While Lewis-Skelly has started and impressed in pre-season friendlies against Girona and Real Betis, and the player is focused on working hard for his opportunities for in the upcoming campaign.
Against Betis he was at the base of the Arsenal midfield and looked assured with the responsibility he was given as the deepest-lying midfielder.
He showed his strength in bringing the ball upfield when Arsenal needed someone to progress play up the pitch.
He also linked up well with Calafiori, while Lewis-Skelly filled in at left-back when the Italian went on one of his adventurous runs forward.
“We just speak in the last few days about this connection that we have – we don’t need to speak,” Calafiori said of his partnership with Lewis-Skelly.
“I really like to play with him, a really good player.”
The Community Shield against Manchester City is in just nine days’ time and Lewis-Skelly looks as though he is going to have the chance to show why he should have been given the nod in the Arsenal midfield sooner.
Boks Buenos Aires Test is bigger than Argentina
Argentina in Buenos Aires is a Test the Springboks will win, but within Rassie Erasmus’s selection it is also an audition.
Zels has the Boks winning 36-18. I have them winning 38-26. We both expect a double-digit Springbok win.
Argentina v Springboks
The fascination is in who leaves Buenos Aires having made himself more difficult to leave out when Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry starts against the All Blacks.
Erasmus has gone big on experience but there is opportunity everywhere. Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager return, but around them are players whose individual performances against Argentina could significantly shift their standing within the squad.
The Bok starting XV features 13 changes from the team that beat Wales 43-0 in Durban.
Ethan Hooker is the obvious one.
Cheslin Kolbe picks himself and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
On Keo & Zels Podcast, we both have the Boks winning comfortably enough. Zels has them 36-18 and I have them 38-26.
The intrigue is in how they win, and who wins within the win.
Rassie Erasmus has his established champions back. Kolisi, Etzebeth and De Jager give the starting pack experience and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is back at No 10.
But around them there are individual contests everywhere.
Hooker is the one I keep coming back to.
Kolbe picks himself every day of the week and we know the quality of Kurt-Lee Arendse, but Hooker gives Erasmus something different on the wing.
He is big, powerful and explosive, but there is also subtlety to his rugby. His counterattack in the Boks’ 43-10 win against New Zealand in Wellington was magnificent. He went more than 60 metres and from it the Boks scored.
Hooker gives the Boks variation.
Zels prefers him in the midfield, particularly at outside centre, but he also believes the bigger wing is coming back into the international game. New Zealand are already embracing that physical profile and Hooker gives the Boks the option to fight fire with fire.
He also has that rare quality of making something happen.
Canan Moodie has it, but not consistently enough. Hooker, whenever he has been given an opportunity, has produced.
Saturday is another opportunity.
Moodie also needs a big one at outside centre. His form has fluctuated and André Esterhuizen, at No 12, has lost time to injury. Both have the pedigree. Buenos Aires is a chance to remind everyone of it.
Aphelele Fassi needs to impose himself at fullback and Edwill van der Merwe will want to rediscover the try-scoring strike that announced him as an international winger.
Then there are the hookers.
Malcolm Marx remains the standard. The question is who gets closest to him.
Johan Grobbelaar starts and Jan-Hendrik Wessels comes from the bench. Wessels has the physicality to be a difference-maker. He carries, he hits and he gets around the field. His challenge is to bring that influence while cutting down the errors.
Grobbelaar’s challenge is different.
His basics are strong. His lineout work is strong. He can play the position. Now he has to show the point of difference that wins a massive Test match.
As Zels put it, it is not enough to be the reliable commercial airline pilot. Sometimes you have to show you can do the loops and barrel rolls.
And then there is Cobus Wiese.
Wiese, for me, is one of the more fascinating selections in this Bok group because his value keeps expanding.
He can play lock. He can play in the back row. Erasmus has used him at No 8 and now trusts him to come from the bench and call the lineouts.
Zels was emphatic: “He’s there to stay.”
I agree.
Wiese is much more central to Erasmus’s thinking than many perhaps appreciate. His ability to cover four, five, seven and eight makes him gold in a World Cup squad where every selection has to provide maximum value.
This is the bigger picture with Erasmus and his 40-plus players.
They know their roles. That does not mean they know their World Cup fate.
Form changes. Injuries happen. Tactics evolve. What Erasmus wants from his team in August 2026 may not be precisely what he wants when the World Cup squad is finalised in 2027.
The experimenting will eventually stop and the cutting will start.
Buenos Aires is part of that process.
Argentina will make it a scrap because Argentina always do at home, but I expect the Boks to have too much.
Zels says the Boks pull away in the final quarter and win by 18.
I have the Boks 38-26, with Argentina getting a late score.
The Boks to win by 12.
And for a handful of Springboks, the individual win could be even bigger than the one on the scoreboard.
‘Why Beldine Odemba is not to blame for Harambee Starlets’ disastrous Wafcon campaign’
NAIROBI, Kenya, August 6, 2026 – Harambee Starlets skipper Mwanahalima ‘Dogo’ Adam says head coach Beldine Odemba is not to blame for the team’s diabolical campaign at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco.
Adam says the burden of responsibility lies with the playing unit who did not implement the instructions of the gaffer on the field.
“The technical bench played their part…if there’s someone to blame, then it is us the players. We did not rise the occasion, at the individual and at the collective level. Beldine gave us the instructions and it was up to us to implement them. She couldn’t have gotten on the pitch herself to come and play,” the midfielder said.
Adam was speaking amid an impending postmortem of the carcass that is Starlets’ dreams of qualifying for next year’s Fifa World Cup in Brazil.
The prevailing mood is a stark contrast to the optimism that had permeated the squad in the lead-up to the continental competition — players and members of the technical bench exuding confidence that Kenya had it in them to reach the last four of the tournament.
Losses to Morocco (4-0), Senegal (1-0) and Algeria (2-0) in Group A ensured that the dream would remain just that — a dream never to become a reality.
While acknowledging the heartache of Kenyans, Adam revealed that the players are just as grief-stricken.
“They (Kenyans) are saying all sorts of things about us on the Internet. We understand that they are hurting but to be honest…we are hurting as well. What more can we do? There’s nothing much to do…we can’t undo it. We made a mistake and what’s left for us is to work hard to return to the same stage and do even better,” she said.
Kenya’s woeful campaign has brought Odemba’s future in the national set-up under sharp focus.
However, top Football Kenya Federation (FKF) officials remain mum on the next step even as certain quarters call for her head.
In the aftermath of Starlets loss to Algeria, FKF supremo Hussein Mohammed was guarded on Odemba’s future, noting that it is something that requires extensive analysis and discussion.
“It is something that first requires a sitdown at which we will look at the team’s performance…what went wrong, challenges encountered and what to improve on before making a final decision,” he said.
As the team shift their attention to the qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, it may be that the former Kenya Police Bullets gaffer gets the chance to redeem herself.
However, as per Adam’s defense, relieving her from her post may not be the only panacea to cure the ills that led to the crashing and burning of Starlets’ Wafcon journey.
Cairns leads Lions into tussle for top spot
Flanker Jarod Cairns takes over the captaincy of a Lions outfit heading to Kimberley for Saturday’s top-of-the-table Currie Cup clash against defending champions Griquas.
Regular captain Ruan Delport is unavailable due to suspension, handing Cairns the leadership role.
Tiaan Wessels comes into the starting lineup to partner last week’s Man of the Match Dylan Sjoblom in the second row, while Jason Hugo replaces veteran winger Rabz Maxwane on the left wing.
BERGH: All Blacks should have played Griquas
Centre Rynhardt Jonker has recovered from an ankle niggle and will face his former team, with Junior Springbok duo JD Hattingh and Luke Cannon included among the replacements.
Both teams have won two of their opening three matches, with the Lions moving to the summit after a 42-19 victory over the Vodacom Bulls XV, while second-placed Griquas showed their mettle by holding off the Cheetahs for a 24-21 win last week.
Saturday’s encounter also carries recent history, with Griquas edging the Lions in last year’s final at Ellis Park.
LIONS – 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Keegan Smith, 13 Likhona Finca, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Jason Hugo, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Morne Venter, 7 Jarod Cairns (c), 6 Thando Biyela, 5 Tiaan Wessels, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Mahle Sithole, 1 Morgan Naude.
Bench: 16 Ruan Welman, 17 Cecil Parsons, 18 Ruan Swart, 19 JD Hattingh, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Zian Cilliers, 22 Matthew Coetzee, 23 Luke Cannon.
Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images
The post Cairns leads Lions into tussle for top spot appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.