Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx has been ruled out of the remainder of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France with a long term knee injury.
Malcolm Marx, who was not included in Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s matchday squad to face Romania in Bordeaux on Sunday, went down at training on Wednesday after having his knee caught in contact.
With the Springboks having the luxury of an enlarged 33-man squad in France for the international showpiece, and sufficient cover at hooker within the squad, he will not be replaced in the squad at this stage.
“First and foremost, we are extremely disappointed for Malcolm Marx, and we wish him all the best in his recovery,” said 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 and has been named on all our team sheets so far as a hooker option.
“We’ll assess our needs for the rest of the tournament and confirm who we are calling up as an additional player later this week.”
The Springboks will depart for Bordeaux on Thursday afternoon where they will continue their preparations for Sunday’s round two encounter against Romania at Stade de Bordeaux.
Meanwhile, coach Jacques Nienaber named all four scrum-halves in the squad in the match-23 to face Romania as he spread the playing load for the team’s second Pool B match on Sunday and Bongi Mbonambi will lead the team in Bordeaux.
Cobus Reinach will start at scrumhalf, with Jaden Hendrikse providing cover off the replacements’ bench, while Grant Williams shows his versatility by starting on the right wing. Faf de Klerk will provide flyhalf cover from the bench in a split of five forwards and three backs.
The only player in the starting XV that continues in the run-on team from last week’s 18-3 victory over Scotland in Marseille is utility back Damian Willemse, who switches from fullback to flyhalf. – SARugby.co.za
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