Malcolm Marx was the best player on the field against Argentina over the weekend. Picture: Juan Mabromata AFP
Durban – Malcolm Marx was the best player on the field in Buenos Aries at the weekend, and the good news for South Africans — and bad news for the Pumas — is that he is very clear about the Boks’ objectives in Durban on Saturday.
Marx scored a vital try to clinch the bonus point in the Boks’ 36-20 defeat of the Pumas, to ensure the Boks have a great shot of winning the Rugby Championship title.
“We have one more game left in the championship and we are going to come out with all guns blazing — we want to lift the trophy and that's all that matters,” said a forthright Marx, who also scored a try in the first half.
Marx was speaking after his man-of-the-match performance and had been asked if the unfortunate sideshows coming from elements of the media last week distracted the Boks.
“There was is a lot of things going on behind the scenes but we know what we want to achieve, we know that our goal is to win the Rugby Championship, that is what matters,” the 28-year-old said.
If anything, the negativity towards the Boks that clogged social media on matchday made them tighter as a unit, and they hit the ground running from the first whistle and blasted the Pumas off the park.
MALCOLM MARX SEALS A BONUS-POINT 36-20 WIN FOR THE SPRINGBOKS IN SALTA 👏 pic.twitter.com/gpeFwl47W7
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) September 17, 2022
But the home team rallied and fought back in the second half, and at one stage were only two points behind the Boks, before the visitors showed great character to pull away again on the scoreboard, with Marx in the vanguard.
“I thought Argentina’s start in second half was excellent and they put us under immense pressure and we did really well to keep calm and do things on our own terms, and then to challenge ourselves to get back on top,” Marx said.
“We just stuck to our guns and tried to shut the crowd out — that was probably the loudest crowd noise I have ever experienced — and by keeping it simple and moving the ball through the hands, the try came at the end.”
A 115kg hooker diving in the corner for the try 🦋
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) September 17, 2022
Super slow-mo, poetry in motion 🥺 pic.twitter.com/aP1WmpWWlP
The crowd noise will be more than welcome this week, though, and with Kings Park sold out for the occasion, the Boks and Marx, in particular, can expect nothing but a positive roar from 46,000 fans.
Marx is indeed the talk of the town and that is no surprise considering the ample evidence that the longer he is on the field, the better the Boks perform — in the three Rugby Championship matches Marx has started this year, the results have been: 26-10 defeat of New Zealand, 24-8 defeat of Australia and 36-20 defeat of Argentina.
In the two matches in which he was benched — New Zealand at Ellis Park and Australia in Adelaide — the team lost, so surely that is telling coach Jacques Nienaber all he needs to know about the hooker position ...
@MikeGreenaway67