Mighty Marx: The No. 2 Who’s No. 1 In The World

Nine years after making his Springbok debut off the bench against the All Blacks in Christchurch and seven years after earning his first nomination for the game’s highest individual accolade, Marx reached the top of the mountain by claiming the World Rugby Player of the Year award at the weekend.

His crowning moment came moments after his Man of the Match performance in the Boks’ 24-13 win over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, South Africa’s first victory over the Irish in Dublin since 2012.

Marx beat out two of his Bok teammates, Pieter-Steph du Toit – who looked to earn the prize for a third time after capturing it in 2019 and 2024 – and Ox Nche – the first prop in history to be nominated for the gong – along with France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

In doing so, the 31-year-old, who’s scored a record 26 tries by a Bok forward in his 87 Test appearances to date, joined the pantheon of greats to be crowned the world’s best.

Just over a dozen South African stars have received nominations for the World Player of the Year award, namely Joe van Niekerk (2002), Marius Joubert (2004), Bryan Habana (2005), Victor Matfield (2005 and 2010), Fourie du Preez (2006 and 2009), Frans Steyn (2009), Eben Etzebeth (2013, 2023 and 2024), Willie le Roux and Duane Vermeulen (both in 2014), Faf de Klerk, Du Toit and Cheslin Kolbe (both in 2019 and 2024), and Lukhanyo Am (2022).

However, Marx is just the fourth Bok to secure the ultimate honour, following in the footsteps of Habana, Burger and Du Toit. He’s also only the second hooker to seize the crown after Irish legend Keith Wood became the inaugural winner of the award in 2001.  

An absolute machine, Marx not only does his core duties better than any other hooker on the planet but also adds another dimension to the Boks and his Japanese club, the Kubota Spears, with his pilfering prowess.

A double World Cup winner (2019 and 2023), a three-time Rugby Championship winner (2019, 2024 and 2025), a British & Irish Lions series winner (2021) and a former SA Player of the Year (2017), Marx has cemented himself as a legend of the game with his 2025 heroics and coronation on Saturday.

He was presented with the award by another Bok great in Matfield in the changerooms after the triumph over Ireland and said at the post-match press conference, “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.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Bok rookie Ethan Hooker lost out on the Breakthrough Player of the Year award. England’s headline-grabbing Henry Pollock was the odds-on favourite in the minds of many to scoop the award, but it went to New Zealand’s Fabian Holland instead. Australia’s Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was also nominated.

Finally, the International Rugby Players Association Men’s 15s Try of the Year award went to Chile’s Santiago Pedrero for his score against Samoa in the South America/Pacific Play-off, RWC 2027 qualifier in September.