Malcolm Marx is fired up for the Rugby Championship finale on Saturday at the Mbombela Stadium, where the Springboks and Argentina will be vying for the trophy.
The Boks narrowly lost to Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero last week, and Marx said the world champions are determined not to make the same errors this time around.
Rassie Erasmus’ troops need only one point from the match or to suffer a defeat without Argentina claiming a bonus point to clinch their first title since 2019 and their fifth ever in the competition, and Marx was excited about the possibility.
“They had a great game last week and this is the first time that they beat the Springboks, New Zealand and Australia in one season,” the Bok bruiser said. “This is also the first time they are in the running for the title, so it’s going to be an epic challenge, but we are looking forward to it.
“They are difficult to contain. They stepped me once or twice last week, so they have good players who really bring the game to you.
“That said, we’ve trained hard this week, and we know what we have to correct from last week and do this week to pull things through.”
ALSO: Boks wary of hard-running Pumas
Looking back at last week’s performance, the two-time World winning hooker said the Boks “slacked off” in some areas of the game for some reason.
“But we had a good review of the game, and we identified where we can improve this week,” he said. “We started off well and were unable to maintain that intensity until the end in Argentina, so it’s vital that we play for the full 80 minutes.
“That said, we know how tough it’s going to be to come away with a win this week, so we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead.”
Marx said while the Pumas were a physical team, all the participating teams in the competition brought their own sense of physicality to the table.
“The Pumas are always physical, but I won’t say one of the teams is more physical than the other [referring to Australia and New Zealand],” he added.
“They just play different types of rugby, but each one of them always delivers a tough challenge.”
Photo: Juan Jose Gasparini/Gallo Images
The post Marx sets sights on ‘epic’ title shot appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
