South Africa: Massive Blow for Boks As Malcolm Marx Ruled Out of Rugby World Cup

14 September 2023
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Craig Ray

The Springboks suffered a huge setback on Thursday when hooker Marx was forced to drop out of Rugby World Cup 2023 through injury.

Hooker Malcolm Marx sustained a knee injury in training on Wednesday and scans revealed the worst news possible for the Bok camp. He has been ruled out of Rugby World Cup 2023.

It's a huge blow as Marx is a massive cog in the gameplan. His absence will also shift more workload on Bongi Mbonambi.

With the Springboks having the luxury of an enlarged 33-man squad in France for the international showpiece, and sufficient cover at hooker, he will not be replaced in the squad at this stage.

"First and foremost, we are extremely disappointed for Malcolm, and we wish him all the best in his recovery," said coach Jacques Nienaber.

"He's been working very hard to be in the best form possible for the tournament, and it's tragic that his campaign has ended this way. As a team, we will remain in contact with him, as we do with all injured players such as Lukhanyo (Am), Handre (Pollard) and Lood (de Jager), and support him as much as we can through the recovery process.

"We have enough cover at hooker with Bongi (Mbonambi) and Deon (Fourie) in the squad, while Marco (van Staden) has also been training there...

Read the full story on Daily Maverick.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Daily Maverick. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.