Malcolm in the middle: How Marx could swing key battles in SAâs favour

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Much has been said about the Springboks and All Blacksâ contrasting styles of play in the lead-up to the Greatest Rivalry Test series, which will be staged over the next four weeks.

The Boks will look to harness the power of their set piece when they travel to Ellis Park on Saturday, while the All Blacks will avoid these contests and attempt to play a less structured game.

With all of the above in mind, both coaches have called on first Test referee Matthew Carley to monitor the opposition for tactics that threaten to derail some of their best-laid plans.

Rassie Erasmus has highlighted the All Blacksâ âbrutalâ breakdown and maul tactics, which have the potential to depower the more fancied Bok pack.

Meanwhile, All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has accused the South Africans of slowing the game down in recent matches.

While Carley will have an important job to do at Ellis Park, the contest is likely to be shaped by the players â and one player in particular.

Earning the edge

Malcolm Marx won the 2025 World Rugby Player of the Year award following a series of influential performances across a monumental season for South Africa.

The 32-year-old hooker will have a key role to play this Saturday, and across the four-Test series.

Marxâs ability to stall an opposition attack via a well-timed steal at the breakdown has become something of a trademark â and may keep a dangerous All Blacks side in check at Ellis Park.

So much has been said about the Boksâ dominant scrum and maul in recent times, and while the props and locks have received due plaudits, less has been made of Marxâs crucial contributions.

The Boks canât set a maul if Marx fails to find his jumpers, and they canât dominate a scrum unless their front-row captain relays the refereeâs instructions to the rest of the pack and makes the necessary technical adjustments ahead of the next set.

Recent results and performances would suggest that the Boks have got this down to a fine art, and one can understand why they are favourites to win the set-piece battles this weekend.

The Boks will go into the opening clash of the Greatest Rivalry with a clear advantage, having won five of the past six Tests against New Zealand, and having bossed the All Blacks pack in many of those contests.

While they lost at Eden Park last year, the Bok scrum delivered a fierce statement in the latter stages after it forced a tighthead and created the opportunity for Marx to score. South Africa carried that psychological momentum into the next contest in Wellington and proceeded to win by record-breaking margin.

The Boks have continued to dominate opposition packs since that 43-10 victory at the Cake Tin, and it would be fair to say that they will go into the next clash with a mental edge.

But when Daily Maverick put this to Marx at a press conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, the decorated veteran suggested that the Boks have something more to prove.

âI definitely donât think that we have the edge,â he said.

âLast year is the past, and weâve got to deal with whatâs in front of us now. We know that the All Blacks are going to come after us at the scrums, so we need to be ready for that challenge.â

New Zealand struggled at the set pieces in the tour opener against the Stormers in Cape Town, before delivering a dominant forward showing in the clash against the Bulls in Pretoria.

The return of front-row veterans Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax has made all the difference in areas such as the scrum and lineout.

âWeâve seen how theyâve gone over the past few weeks, so we canât rely on what worked [in 2025] to see us through the coming game,â Marx noted. âWeâve put in a lot of preparation in recent weeks to give ourselves the best chance of performing this Saturday.â

Managing a prize asset

Erasmus has taken a different approach to the management of his front row in recent seasons.

While he endeavoured to blood new players and experiment with a host of combinations in 2025, he started Marx in 11 out of 14 Tests.

There was a time when Bongi Mbonambi and Marx shared the workload over the course of a marquee Test, and when the latter was deployed in the final half hour.

At that stage, the Bomb Squad was a big part of Marxâs identity, and few were surprised after the hooker and teammate Steven Kitshoff launched a beer company under the same banner in 2023.

Nowadays, Erasmus is pushing Marx to play 65 minutes or more â the hooker went the full 80 against England last month â and asking utility forwards such as Jan Hendrik-Wessels and Marco van Staden to slot in as needed.

Johan Grobbelaar is the only other specialist hooker in the current squad, and it remains to be seen how much game time the Bulls player will receive over the next four Tests.

Grobbelaar started in the recent Tests against Scotland and Argentina and made an appearance for the Bulls against the All Blacks from the bench.

Erasmus is unlikely to start Marx in all four Tests against the All Blacks, given the intensity and attritional nature of the fixtures and the fact that the No 2 is racking up more game minutes than was the case before.

It will be interesting to see how the coach manages one of the Boksâ most important players beyond this Saturday, as South Africa will need Marx fit and firing when the series reaches a decisive stage in weeks three and four.

For now, however, Erasmus will demand nothing more than a game-shaping performance that sets the Boks on the high road for success. DM

Reporting originally appeared via Daily Maverick. Read the full source for additional context.