Born in Germiston, Malcolm Marx (19) had to get special permission from the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to play at a senior level.
“It’s a big honour for me to represent my province at senior level and feel very humbled by the experience; it’s an opportunity for me to do something big,” said Marx.
The exceptional teenager amd promising hooker has played et every junior level for the Lion’s, from u-13 Craven Week to Grant Khomo, Academy Week, u-18 Craven Week, and finally in last year’s Absa u-19 provincial competition, where he was named the Golden Lions’ u-19 Forward of the Year.
“It felt good to receive the nomination, but I coudn’t have done it without my team and all their hard work,” said Marx.
Playing in the Vodacom Cup this season is his first taste of senior rugby and he was granted permission from SARU to play at such a young age, in line with the regulations of SARU’s BokSmart rugby safety programme.
“The Vodacom Cup is a good competition, it has some of the best guys in South Africa playing and there is a lot of young talent,” added Marx.
The Vodacom Cup is South Africa’s premier development tournament and is celebrating its 17th year since its inception in 1998; the tagline remains “Tjovitjo” which means “It’s all good”.
The mandate of the tournament is to unearth the future stars of South African rugby and this forms a crucial bridge between the junior levels and Super Rugby, and finally achieving the much sought after green and gold.
Marx stands at a solid 1.88m tall and weighs in at 113kg, much like his hero, Bismarck du Plessis , who is 1.89m tall and weighs 112kg.
“Bismarck is my ultimate hero; I admire the way he plays and what he does on the field,” said Marx added.
“It’s easy to see why he is number one in the world; I want to be exactly like him.”
Marx already stands out for his exceptional ball carrying skills, his ability to make decisions quickly and being able to lead from the front row.
The Golden Lions have had two close wins so far in the tournament; they won their first match against the Leopards XV in Potchefstroom 18-16 and beat the Valke by one point (23-22) at Ellis Park, recently.
