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Three former World Rugby Player of the Year winners have missed out on the team of Steven Kitshoff and Trevor Nyakane for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with Malcolm Marx the only award winner to make an XV made up of nine Springboks and six All black people.
Two World Cup-winning Springbok props named their combined team from South Africa’s 3-1 series win over the All Blacks on For the love of rugby: South Africa podcast, with a look at Ardie Savea, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Beauden Barrett.
Savea, the 2023 Player of the Year, scored three tries in the first three Tests before a shoulder injury ruled him out of the final in Baltimore. Jasper Wiese was still preferred at No.8, while New Zealander Luke Jacobson joined Siya Kolisi on the flanks.
Du Toit, who won the award in 2019 and 2024, was another notable omission despite featuring in the series, while two-time winner Barrett, now 35, also missed out after playing a reduced role in four Tests. Instead, Ruben Love was selected at fly-half.
The only individual award winner to make the squad was reigning Player of the Year Marx, joined by Ox Nche and Wilco Louw in the all-Springbok front row. Kitshoff and Nyakane had little hesitation in their choice of whores after Marx’s influence on the series.
“I don’t think there’s much debate here because we all know him,” Nyakane said when choosing their bitch. “Malcolm ‘Moose’ Marx is probably arguably the best rugby player in the world. Malcolm gets the number two jumper for me and that’s what I think.
Kitshoff said: “Malcolm has been outstanding throughout this tournament. I don’t think whether I put him in the number two jersey or the number 16 jersey makes any difference to the Springboks. He makes an impact every time he’s around the ball. He carries himself like a spinning tractor tire and fights like a demon. He’s in really good shape at the moment and he’s in the mood.’
“We saw him go down with his shoulder a few weeks ago. He’s back in the lineup. He went down with a little neck injury. What looked like ice on the back of his head. But also his head is so big it’s hard to imagine where he puts it when he’s scoring or carrying the ball. I don’t know his head like a little bit. He’s used a little bit. but there’s no question.
“I thought Deon Fourie played well New Zealand whores played extremely well. Codie Taylor was the captain in Baltimore. But Malcolm was just – and Malcolm might even be my player of the tournament, to be honest – incredible in every game he was on the court.
Nyakane added: “Now Moose, my man, well done. We’ve really enjoyed watching you play. He’s a one-man ball at the moment. Hard to stop. Nice to watch. Enjoyable. And Malcolm Marx gets that number two spot for us.”
Kitshoff and Nyakane’s series team: 15 Damian McKenzie (New Zealand); 14 Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa), 13 Jordie Barrett (New Zealand), 12 Damian de Allende (South Africa), 11 Ethan Hooker (South Africa); 10 Ruben Love (New Zealand), 9 Cam Roigard (New Zealand); 1 Ox Nche (South Africa), 2 Malcolm Marx (South Africa), 3 Wilco Louw (South Africa), 4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa), 5 Tupou Vaa’i (New Zealand), 6 Siya Kolisi (South Africa), 7 Luke Jacobson (New Zealand) (New Zealand)
