English
Indian
العربية
Español
Deutsch
Türkçe
Русский
Français (Afrique)
Barney: Marx a ‘beast who serves Boks’
Springbok legend John Smit has described Malcolm Marx as the bane of existence for every team he faces after another big outing from the best player on the planet. realschule-moosburg.de
Reigning World Rugby and SA Rugby Player of the Year, Marx starred on and off the ball as South Africa beat the All Blacks 29-24 last week to go 2-1 up in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series before Saturday’s finale in Baltimore.
Speaking on the I Love Rugby podcast with Wallabies great George Gregan and ex-Scotland lock Jim Hamilton, Smit extolled the values of arguably his best successor.
PLUS: Beaver gives ‘phenomenal’ Marx his flowers
“There are a couple of things about Malcolm that make him the best in the world, certainly the best who’s worn the No 2 shirt in South Africa,” the 111-cap hooker said.
“He’s a beast. He’s a monstrous man. He’s big, athletic, fast. He carries well, he steals, he scrums, he’s got an unbelievable throw. There’s no real chinks in the armour.
“He’s the kind of guy who gets in there and serves. He provides a level of confidence that when you sit in a change room before a big Test match and you look around and you see [him], you think, ‘I’m going to be OK.’
MORE: Ex-Wallabies chime in on Bok scrum wooha
“Probably his first Test [of 2026] was the quietest we’ve seen him because he hadn’t played a bit for a while, and I think he took that to heart. And he just got better and better.
“The last thing I’ll say about Malcolm is that he must be the bane of existence for every opposition team that plays against him. But I don’t think there’s one person in world rugby who doesn’t like him as a human afterwards … that says a lot about the guy.”
The Boks went 12-5 down at FNB Stadium and found a way to fight back through a first-half penalty try from a scrum that settled a week of back and forth between coaches Rassie Erasmus and Dave Rennie.
ALSO: ‘Boks don’t need to manipulate scrum’
“The thing that stands out for me in that Test is that every South African, every ‘green goblin’, was waiting for the scrum to deliver,” Smit added.
“South Africa need that weaponised scrum to create their confidence and get that psychological benefit.
“I actually called it sitting next to Vincent [Koch], who was watching with me, and I just said, ‘If this scrum is par or New Zealand get a penalty, I can promise you we’re in for a dogfight’.
“We took a bet and I said, ‘Hundred bucks it’s a penalty try’. And he said, ‘Hundred bucks it’s nothing’. So I’m a hundred rand richer, guys.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The post Barney: Marx a ‘beast who serves Boks’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Carabao Cup – Chelsea : Caicedo, Palestra, Emegha et Henderson forfaits face à Leeds
Coup dur pour Xabi Alonso avant le troisième tour de la Carabao Cup. L’entraîneur de Chelsea a confirmé que Moisés Caicedo, Marco Palestra, Emmanuel Emegha et Jordan Henderson seront absents pour la réception de Leeds United, mercredi à Stamford Bridge, à partir de 20 heures. Seule bonne nouvelle pour les Blues : Levi Colwill est de retour dans le groupe.
Colwill de retour, mais quatre absences de poids
Battu pour la première fois de la saison dimanche sur la pelouse d’Arsenal (2-1), Chelsea veut rapidement rebondir. Pour cette rencontre de Carabao Cup, les Blues pourront compter sur le retour de Levi Colwill.
Resté sur le banc face aux Gunners en raison d’un problème physique, le défenseur anglais est désormais « en forme et prêt à participer », selon Xabi Alonso. Un renfort important pour Chelsea, qui tentera de décrocher son billet pour les huitièmes de finale.
Mais plusieurs joueurs importants manqueront encore à l’appel.
Caicedo et Palestra encore trop justes
Moisés Caicedo et Marco Palestra ne seront pas disponibles face à Leeds. Interrogé sur leur situation en conférence de presse, Xabi Alonso s’est montré prudent : « Non, pas encore. Ils ne sont pas encore prêts à jouer et ce n’est pas le moment de prendre un risque prématuré. Nous allons les gérer match après match, mais il est encore trop tôt pour se prononcer. »
L’absence de Palestra est notamment regrettée par le technicien espagnol. Arrivé avec beaucoup d’enthousiasme, le défenseur avait réalisé une bonne préparation avant de se blesser quelques jours avant le premier match de Premier League contre Fulham.
Emegha et Henderson également absents
Chelsea devra également composer sans Emmanuel Emegha et Jordan Henderson. Les deux joueurs ne sont pas encore suffisamment remis pour effectuer leur retour à la compétition et manqueront donc le rendez-vous face à Leeds.
Xabi Alonso entend néanmoins gérer leur retour avec prudence, alors que la saison est encore longue. « Le retour d’une blessure fait partie intégrante de la vie d’un footballeur et nous aurons assurément besoin de lui », a notamment expliqué l’entraîneur espagnol au sujet de Palestra.
Privé de quatre éléments, Chelsea devra donc s’appuyer sur la profondeur de son effectif pour venir à bout de Leeds et poursuivre son parcours en Carabao Cup.
The post Carabao Cup – Chelsea : Caicedo, Palestra, Emegha et Henderson forfaits face à Leeds appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.
Why Krappie gets the nod and Manie doesn’t start for Springboks in RGR finale
Springbok scrumhalf Morné van den Berg is set for the biggest opportunity of his fledgling international career when he starts in the final Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday.
Krappie, as he is affectionately known, has been a regular feature in the Springbok squad over the past two seasons, with this his third year travelling extensively with the national team.
But since making his debut against Portugal in July 2024, he has only gone on to play nine Tests for the Boks, four of them starting, while the other five have all been bench appearances.
Bok starts
His biggest start to date was arguably against a struggling Wallabies team Down Under back in 2024, while he has started twice against Italy and once against Wales.
The All Blacks is undoubtedly the biggest team he has played against and after two impressive performances off the bench in the last two Tests, he now gets a well-deserved shot to show what he can do as a starter against the second best team in the world.
“Krappie has been with us for a while now. He is not a young player breaking through, he is 28. We have been tracking him for a long time and he has been unlucky with injuries, and having a number of good nines getting opportunities and playing ahead of him,” said Bok coach Rassie Erasmus at Monday’s team announcement.
“Now with Grant (Williams) being injured (in the first Test), Krappie has gotten his chance. Whenever he is inside the camp he contributes positively, even if he isn’t playing. He is always contributing.
“After his last injury (for the Lions towards the end of the URC season), we thought it was going to be a tough year for him to get back into the mix. But he did his rehab well, he is back to full fitness, and the last two weeks when he got his opportunity, he did really well and we think he deserves a start.”
Manie Libbok
A player who is unlucky to not get a start after some strong performances off the bench is flyhalf Manie Libbok, who has been thrust into the action early in the last two Tests because of injuries, and has played well, but retains his place on the replacements’ bench.
“We could have also played Handré (Pollard) as well, he is ready (fit) and will probably play against Australia (in a one-off Test at the end of the month). But we wanted to be consistent (in selecting Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to start),” explained Erasmus.
“Also, the game is different in the last 30 minutes when everyone is more tired. There are obviously more gaps and forwards who are heavy footed (and we want to exploit that).
“Apart from Sacha’s skills and many things that he can do well, he is a really good defender and that’s normally one of the big things for the All Blacks, they try to get a fast start. Manie has done really well, but with Sacha there are some areas he isn’t hitting his straps yet.
“He only recently returned from injury, and with Manie we feel he can come on after five minutes if Sacha gets injured and can handle the pressure, but we feel we might need him later in the game.”