Malcolm Marx, the next great Springbok hooker

From the days of James Dalton to John Smit to Bismark du Plessis the South African rugby public have been blessed time and time again with fantastic talents in the middle of their front row.

The latest in the long line of Springbok hookers is Malcolm Marx and the 23-year-old is something special. 

A former KES schoolboy Marx started his rugby career in the centres before moving into the back row and finally the front row in his matric year. 

Marx represented the Lions in the youth ranks before breaking into the Currie Cup squad in 2014 and the Super Rugby squad the following year.

Marx made his first appearance in the green and gold against  New Zealand in September last year and started his first game against the Barbarians in November.

Each Springbok hooker seems to bring his own twist to the role with Dalton bringing pure aggression, Smith bringing his leadership and near perfect set pieces and Bismark with his hard-hitting tackles and uncompromising approach.

Marx is no different bringing his fantastic ball handling ability and work ethic around the park. 

After helping the Lions to their 2nd consecutive final Marx has finally made the Springbok jersey his own starting all 5 of the Springbok Tests so far this year. 

Marx, somehow, improved on his 2016 Super Rugby season scoring 10 tries and averaged a turnover a game.

He also averaged almost 4 metres per carry throughout the competition and racked up 2 try assists. 

A great Springbok side has always had a world class hooker cementing their scrum and the 23-year-old Marx is set to do so for a long time, having already shown he has what it takes at the highest level. 

The Boks took on a powerful French pack in June and Marx seemed right at home, he then came up against an Argentine front row again showed he was right at home.