Bittersweet news for Marx

WHEN the news finally arrived it was as good‚ as it was bad.

The good news is that Lions and Springboks star hooker Malcolm Marx will not require surgery on his hamstring injury‚ but the bad news is he has been ruled out for at least six weeks.

This means he will miss South Africa’s Tests next month against Wales and England.

If he were to make a remarkable recovery‚ he would most likely return to the mix for the last Test against England at Newlands on June 23.

His absence will be a huge loss for the Springboks and their new coach Rassie Erasmus as he was one of their few star performers in an otherwise miserable season last year.

As a result Marx was named South African Rugby player of the year and he picked up where he left off with some stellar performances for the Lions in Super Rugby this season.

Marx left the field early in the Lions’ Super Rugby clash against the Hurricanes in Wellington last Saturday and was required to fly home on Monday to have a scan of the injury.

The Lions yesterday revealed that he has a high grade hamstring tendon tear.

“He does not require surgery and is not expected to recover for at least six weeks‚” the Lions said in a statement.

The Springboks start their Test season next month with a clash against Wales in Washington‚ before taking on England on consecutive Saturdays in Johannesburg‚ Bloemfontein and Cape Town. —