Malcolm Marx will join the Vodacom Bulls at the end of the current Japanese season, signing a three-year deal that reunites him with coach Johan Ackermann. The World Rugby Player of the Year becomes the second double World Cup winner to sign with the Bulls in as many weeks, following Kwagga Smith's deal announced last week.
Marx, 32, holds the Springbok record for test tries by a forward with 29, accumulated across 94 caps. The Bulls' CEO Edgar Rathbone described the signing as "a huge moment" for the franchise and a clear statement of intent.
Ackermann, who first encountered Marx as a 16-year-old at KES and handed him his first-class debut at the Lions, said the hooker moved out of the U20 ranks rapidly and drew early comparisons to Bismarck du Plessis — a prediction that attracted media scepticism at the time. "He's one of the hardest workers I coached, someone with great integrity," Ackermann said. "I am most proud of the man and the person and the husband and son he is for his family."
The signing leaves the Bulls with a remarkable depth of Springbok-capped hookers: Marx, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar and Akker van der Merwe, with Marco van Staden providing additional cover in that position for the national side.