John Afoa picked him on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown for the core roles. This site picks him for the two Tests that decided Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
“I’ve gone a smaller number, gone front row, of course. Of course, can’t count that high. That’s why I’ve got Malcolm Marx.”
John Afoa said it on Sunday 13 September on The Breakdown, laughing, the evening after South Africa closed out Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry 3-1 in Baltimore. Aaron Cruden and Mils Muliaina had just picked Jasper Wiese.
Afoa, an All Blacks prop from 2005 to 2011 and a World Cup winner in the last of those years, went for Malcolm Marx. So does WeTalkRugby.
The case starts in an odd place: a 6.5 at Ellis Park and a seat on the bench in Cape Town. Wiese or Marx? Say which in the comments before the argument below has a go at changing your mind.
Two former All Blacks said Wiese. The prop said the hooker.
Cruden, 50 Tests at fly-half, went first. “The man of the series, I think, was Jasper Wiese for the South Africans. Just instant go-forward, provided, I guess, power, finesse when he had to, and he was just a real handful for the All Blacks to contain in every single game.”
Muliaina, 100 Tests at fullback, agreed. “He was relentless,” he said. “For me, he was the man of the series.”
Then the host, Taylor Curtis, turned to the prop, and after the joke about small numbers Afoa gave his reasons. “We think of scrum, we think of lineouts, we think of carries, we think of the turnovers, we think of driving the mauls. He’s doing it all.”
Two to one against him on the panel. The pick here is still Marx, and the reasons run back to the first Test.
Ellis Park: a 6.5 and a missed jumper
Nobody would have picked Malcolm Marx after the first Test. The Ellis Park ratings gave Malcolm Marx a 6.5 and Wiese a 9, and the gap was fair.
Marx stole a ball inside the first minute and missed his jumper on four. On 35, with the match still open, a maul ball spilled over the New Zealand line with Jordie Barrett’s hand in it. New Zealand won 33-16.
Rassie Erasmus took the whole front row out for Cape Town after the team had been named.
Marx sat with the replacements, came on for Deon Fourie on 35, made a break on 48 that the defence simply parted for, and took a 7.5 as a replacement. South Africa won 33-26 to level the series, and the hooker who started was Fourie.
Two Tests in, the reigning World Rugby Player of the Year had one start and one bench appearance.
Soweto and Baltimore were decided on his ball
Erasmus went back to Ox Nché, Marx and Wilco Louw for Soweto, and the series turned on the two Tests that followed.
At FNB Stadium Malcolm Marx did not lose a lineout on his throw. On 61, with New Zealand building inside the South African half, he got over the ball and won the penalty that turned the last quarter.
Then he steered a maul 20 metres and sideways from the back until he fell over the line. The site marked him 8.5. South Africa won 29-24.
In Baltimore he stole the ball on 32 with New Zealand attacking and pounced on a loose ball after a big hit on Ethan Blackadder before half-time.
On 49 he finished another maul and the score went from 17-14 to 22-14. An 8 in the Baltimore ratings, and off on 49 the moment the job was done. South Africa won 43-28 and the trophy.
Afoa’s description of the maul is the one to keep. “Driving at the back of these mauls, it’s not easy. You’re not just hanging there having a holiday. He’s got a real feel when to go, when to go left, when to break away or when to stay behind the guys, and it just shows, and he scored one nearly every game.”
Nearly. Two of four by the site’s own ledger; the Ellis Park maul spilled over the line and in Cape Town he did not start. Both tries came in the Tests that decided it.
Read also: Trevor Nyakane says the nicest man on the Springboks bus is not the one who plays, which explains the version of Marx that turned up in Soweto.
The honest case for Jasper Wiese, and why it is still Malcolm Marx
Wiese’s numbers are better than Marx’s, and pretending otherwise is the quickest way to lose this argument.
The site’s ratings across the four Tests: Wiese 9, 7, 8.5, 8.5. Marx 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 8. Add them up and the No. 8 wins 33 to 30.5.
By the series review’s count he carried 17 times at Ellis Park and 17 times in Baltimore, the most on the field both nights. The best single performance by anyone in green all series was his 9 in a 17-point defeat.
Cruden’s “every single game” is exactly right. Wiese never dipped.
So why the hooker?
Because a series is a different question from a sum. Wiese’s best night was the one South Africa lost.
Malcolm Marx’s two best nights were the two that won it. Both turned on hooker’s work: a throw that never missed in Soweto, a steal on 61 there, a steal on 32 in Baltimore, and two mauls finished from the back.
The site’s ratings never had Marx as the best player on the field in any of the four Tests. Wiese, Cheslin Kolbe, Ethan Hooker and Morné van den Berg took those. His worst game came first. His best came with the trophy on the line.
He also passed a number on the way. Marx scored his 28th Test try in Soweto. Baltimore made it 29, from a hooker, in his 93rd Test.
The All Blacks pick was never in doubt
Sky’s viewer poll had Jordie Barrett at 49 per cent as the All Blacks player of the series, Will Jordan at 30, Asafo Aumua at 14 and Peter Lakai at 7.
Muliaina and Afoa both said Barrett. Afoa’s reason was the one he gave for Marx: “he’s doing his core role really well, and it shows.” Bryn Hall called him the best player in the world a week earlier and would lose Cam Roigard before him.
Your turn: Wiese or Marx?
Two ways to pick a player of the series. Add up the ratings and it is Jasper Wiese, 33 to 30.5. Pick the man who decided the Tests that decided it and it is Malcolm Marx. The site says Marx. John Afoa says Marx. Cruden and Muliaina say Wiese. Settle it below.
Frequently asked
Who was the player of the series in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry 2026? WeTalkRugby names Malcolm Marx, for two steals and two maul tries in the Soweto and Baltimore wins. On Sky Sport’s The Breakdown, Aaron Cruden and Mils Muliaina picked Jasper Wiese and John Afoa picked Marx.
Did Malcolm Marx score in every Test against the All Blacks? No. Malcolm Marx scored from mauls in Soweto and Baltimore, had a maul ball spill over the line at Ellis Park with Jordie Barrett’s hand in it, and came off the bench in Cape Town. The Baltimore try was his 29th in Tests.
Who was the All Blacks player of the series? Jordie Barrett, by the Sky Sport viewer poll (49 per cent), and by Mils Muliaina and John Afoa on the panel. Aaron Cruden gave Peter Lakai his man of the match for Baltimore.
