RUGBY NEWS - The Bulls have signed reigning World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx on a long-term contract.
Effective July 2027, the 32-year-old Springbok hooker’s deal dramatically raises the Pretoria-based club’s title ambitions.
The two-time World Cup winner will leave the Kubota Spears at the end of the 2026/27 Japan Rugby League One season to link up again with Bulls coach Johan Ackermann, who first signed and developed him at the Lions.
The announcement comes only 11 days after the Bulls secured the services of fellow Springbok Kwagga Smith.
Hooker welcomes fresh chapter in Pretoria
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join such a historic and respected club as the Bulls next season,” said Marx in a statement.
“It is an exciting new chapter for me, and I look forward to reconnecting and working alongside former teammates and coaches.
“I am eager to contribute wherever I can, bring and play my part in helping the Bulls achieve their goals and ambitions. “I look forward to the journey ahead and to being part of this special club.”
The Bulls are believed to have fought off a rival bid from the Sharks for Marx’s signature.
Ackermann praises hooker’s work ethic, humility
“I’m humbled that a player of his quality sees our union as the place he wants to play his rugby,” Ackermann said. “I first met him with his mom as a 16-year-old at KES. I just saw this broad-shouldered, big man, but obviously the proof was in the pudding.”
Marx didn’t spend long in the U20s before he was promoted to the senior squad at the Lions.
Ackermann said he once predicted the youngster could have an impact like Bismarck du Plessis, which earned him some flak from the media, though he was soon proved right.
“He’s one of the hardest workers I coached, someone with great integrity too,” the coach said. “He excelled and has stayed humble, always putting his team first.
“I have so much respect for him, grateful that his rugby journey has come full circle with me.
“I am most proud of the man and the person and the husband and son he is for his family.”
Record-breaking forward brings wealth of experience
Marx has 94 test caps and 29 test tries, the most by any forward in Springbok history, and won the World Cup in 2019 and 2023.
He is currently in Europe with the Boks, adding to those tallies.
He grew up in Johannesburg, played at King Edward VII School and rose to prominence with the Lions during the club’s golden era. He helped them reach three consecutive Super Rugby finals (2016–2018) and won multiple SA Super Rugby Player of the Year awards.
His dominant breakdown work, set-piece accuracy and physical ball-carrying have made him one of the best in the world.
Edgar Rathbone, CEO of the Blue Bulls Company, said: “Malcolm is one of the best players in the world, and he has been a hero to many South Africans. To bring a player of his quality to the Bulls is a huge moment for our supporters and for rugby in the region.
“He is a winner, a proud South African and a man whose standards will lift everyone around him. This shows our ambition clearly: we are building a squad capable of winning trophies, and Malcolm’s signing says it loud and clear.”
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