VIDEO: Humble Marx dedicates award to team, South Africa
DUBLIN, IRELAND: ‘He’ll be coming round the corner, he’ll be coming round the corner, Malcolm Marx.’
That is how the Springbok team celebrated when former Springbok lock Victor Matfield presented the Springbok hooker with the World Rugby Player of the Year award following the team’s historic win over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
With another dominant scrum performance by the Boks, Marx was also named Man of the Match.
The 31-year-old No.2 is shy of claiming the glory that others would bask in and has never been comfortable claiming reward off the field.
He has been part of the Springbok squad since 2016 and has since risen to become a giant in the modern game.
Marx was quick to shift the focus back to the Springbok ethos – where individual accolades come second to team success – when congratulated on his award during the post-match press conference in Dublin.
With a bloodied eyebrow and while a smiling Springbok coach, Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi looked on, the soft-spoken giant of a man offered up the reward to the team and his country.
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“I don’t think it has really sunk in, to be honest.
“To be fair, none of this is achieved without the team environment that we have,” he said, adding, “We are a tight group and things like this happen due to the group that we have.
“So in my opinion, this isn’t an individual reward, I think it’s more of a team reward because the support and the structures we have that allow us to express ourselves are unbelievable.
“So it’s not just for me, it’s for South Africa.”
South Africa earned their first win away to Ireland in 13 years with a dominant scrummaging performance.
“As you can tell from the way I look, it was bruising. It is always hard against Ireland; they’re a quality side, and we knew it would go to the end.
“We needed to show character, and we did it. It was a tough game, but we are really proud of the win.”
“We had some success with it [the scrums], but in the second half, we weren’t as successful as we would have liked to be. But we will take it,” Marx said, and added that so many scrums aren’t very pleasing on the neck.
“We know what a quality side they are and what a quality pack they have.
“I thought they did extremely well in the second half when they held us out.
“They are a quality side, and they showed it, even with 12 guys on the field.”
At 31, the hooker will be managed well towards the next World Cup, and his role will be whatever the team needs him to be.
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