South African journalist Craig Ray joined Monday Night Rugby to discuss South Africa and Malcolm Marx.
South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina are in the midst of The Rugby Championship.
The Springboks are on two wins and two losses after four games. They split both series with New Zealand and Australia. Now they face Argentina in their final two games, with missed opportunities still lingering in recent memory.
Craig Ray believes that South Africa missed an important opportunity to sweep the All Blacks by not picking their best players in every game. At the forefront of that is Malcolm Marx.
"Malcolm Marx's presence at the breakdown is immense," Ray said.
"Although he didn't make any turnovers himself, just his presence at the breakdown meant the Australians had to commit at least one more man to the breakdown. Or if they got isolated, they were so busy watching Marx that someone else like Kolisi could get in there."
Marx is a hooker. He is an outstanding lineout thrower and an outstanding player in the loose. While South Africa have bigger names in their forward pack, Eben Etzebeth for example, Marx is arguably the best player of the lot.
Not just that, he might be the best player in the world right now. Craig reports that former Springboks coach Jake White believes Marx is the best player in rugby.
"I spoke to Jake White before the All Black test at Ellis Park. And he couldn't fathom how Marx had been left out...He said, this guy is probably the best rugby player in the world right now, never mind the best hooker. And you leave him on the bench?
"To me it makes no sense. If you've got Kylian Mbappe and you leave him on the bench for a crucial game, it really makes no sense. Not that I'm saying Marx is the Kylian Mbappe of rugby, but he certainly has that galvanizing effect on the Springbok team."
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