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The ever-humble Malcolm Marx once again put all the praise on the team, after being named World Rugby’s Men’s Player of the Year for 2025 on Saturday night.
Marx celebrated in style, with a man-of-the-match performance against Ireland in Dublin, helping the Boks triumph in the country for the first time since 2012, with him handed the award in the changing room soon after by Springbok legend Victor Matfield.
But Marx has never been one to toot his own horn, and has always credited the team with making him look good, and he was again at it, even saying he had hoped his fellow nominees, Ox Nche and Pieter-Steph du Toit, would get the award ahead of him.
“I sort of don’t have words to be honest. None of this is achievable without the environment and the team that we have got. Management, players and everyone involved,” said Marx to SuperSport after the match.
“So this award isn’t just necessarily for me, an individual award, I think it’s a team award and an award for South Africa.
“I was kind of hoping that it would have been Oxie or Pieter-Steph. Ox could have been the first prop that would have won it. But I am extremely proud, I am very thankful and massively humbled by it (the award).
“Massive congratulations to all the other nominees (in the various categories) as well. They have all obviously had great years and played some exceptional rugby.”
Front row dominance
Against Ireland Marx was part of a dominant Bok front row, featuring Boan Venter and Thomas du Toit for most of the first half, and then Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw, and admitted that the hosts had done well to keep the score respectable despite the immense pressure they were under.
“It was a tough game and having that many scrums wasn’t pleasing on the neck, but they are a quality side with a quality pack, so obviously we had to grind it out and apply as much pressure as we could to get the rewards from it,” explained Marx.
“They did extremely well in the second half to hold us out, and we had a few penalties, but they are a quality side and they showed that on the field.”
It has been a long and hard season for Marx, who has played in 12 of the Boks 14 matches, and has started in every game he has played, while he has stayed on the field for over 70 minutes on a number of occasions as well, most notably against France and Ireland.
He may get a well-deserved break for the Boks final end-of-year-tour game against Wales, before returning to his franchise team in Japan, but admitted he was just happy to be part of the group.
“It definitely has been a tough but rewarding season. I must say the body is sort of battered and bruised, but any opportunity that I do get to be in this environment and with this team I will grab with both hands,” said Marx.
“Because you never know when it’s going to end. So obviously working hard and trying to stay (in the setup) is the tough part.”
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