Malcolm Marx took ownership of the Springboks No 2 jersey in 2025, averaging 68 minutes a Test in South Africa’s last seven big Test matches.
By big, I mean those with greater significance, which were the six Rugby Championship Tests and the win in Paris against France in early November.
Marx, since his debut international season in 2017, has played 86 Tests, but throughout, he has shared the Test hooking duties with fellow World Cup winner Bongi Mbonambi.
He often found himself wearing the No 16 jersey, with Bok coaches Rassie Erasmus and, between 2020 and 2023, Jacques Nienaber, combining the natural strengths of both players, and believing Marx’s explosiveness to be more influential and decisive in the last quarter of a Test.
Marx and Mbonambi, as a combination, formed the most powerful hooker duo in the sport, but this season has seen Mbonambi battle with form and miss the initial squad selection for the November Tests.
Outstanding player
Mbonambi was put on standby and belatedly drafted into the squad a week ago, but did not make the match 23 for last night’s Test against Ireland in Dublin. His only rugby was three weeks ago for the Barbarians against the All Blacks XV. He started the match and scored a try.
Marx, named among a quartet of nominees for the World Rugby Player of the Year award this week, has stepped up in Mbonambi’s absence — and has consistently been the outstanding player for the Springboks this season. He has embraced the workload and prospered the more he has played.
Marx, since last November’s Springboks adventure up North, has played 34 matches, including last night’s Test against Ireland.
He has played 19 matches for his Japanese Club Kubota Spears, starting in 12 of the matches and leading the team to the final. For the Springboks, including last night’s Test against Ireland, he has started 11 Tests this season and started the season’s international opener against the Barbarians in Cape Town.
Mighty Marx
This time last year, he played the last 35 minutes of all three Tests on tour, but in 2025 it has been a very different tour for mighty Marx, with his 77 minutes against France among his greatest efforts in an almighty Test career.
He comfortably goes past 70 minutes when required, which is rare for any hooker/front rower in the modern game, where most average between 35 and 45 minutes.
He is as effective starting or finishing, and has a rare rugby skillset that speaks to the very different demands of both these components of the game.
Marx was a big factor in South Africa’s Rugby Championship recovery, when the Boks won their last three Tests to secure the title, including the record-breaking 43-10 win against the All Blacks in Wellington, New Zealand.
Rugby critics at the New Zealand Herald newspaper have on two occasions scored Marx 10/10 for his performances against the All Blacks, and he’s a player who seldom rates below an eight out of 10.
He is acknowledged as one of the best hookers to play the game and is always in the conversation when it comes to who is the best in the last decade.
Try-scoring machine
Marx’s scrumming is strong, his lineout throwing is accurate, he plays like an extra loose-forward over the ball at the breakdown, loves to tackle, and is a try-scoring machine at the back of the Springboks lineout mauling.
He is the complete package as a player, inspirational as a leader within the Boks group, and among the most popular with rugby supporters.
Marx’s nomination as World Player of the Year is long overdue.
Equally overdue is seeing a prop finally nominated for Test rugby’s biggest individual prize. Springboks and Sharks loosehead Ox Nche is the history-making prop for an award many believed should have been his in 2024.
Pieter-Steph du Toit, a two-time winner of the award, was an obvious inclusion after a stunning Test season, and France’s flying winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey is rewarded for his try-scoring exploits at the national level, and for Investec Champions Cup title winners Bordeaux.
Sharks and Boks winger Ethan Hooker is a popular nomination for ‘Breakthrough Player of the Year.’
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.