‘Focus should now be on next game’
Marx advises against taking All Blacks lightly
Imposing Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx has urged his teammates to guard against dwelling too much on the emotions of their stunning victory over New Zealand in Wellington three weeks ago when they face the All Blacks in the return Rugby Championship Test at Loftus on Saturday.
The Boks overcame heavy odds at the Westpac Stadium to hand the All Blacks their first loss at home in this tournament since 2009, but Marx, who played an important role in that 36-34 win, said win must be forgotten when they face the old enemy at the Loftus Stadium.
“The most important thing for us is to put what happened in Wellington behind us,” he said.
“That victory was amazing for us but it is in the past and we must focus on how we can get better. We must try to correct what we did wrong in the last two matches.”
The two teams go into this match with the All Blacks having already won the Rugby Championship following their victory over Argentina at the weekend. But there is pride to play for with the Boks looking to complete a rare double over their old rivals.
Marx, who is widely regarded as the best hooker in the world, said yesterday to overcome the All Blacks for the second time in a short space of time, they must improve their attack.
“When you tackle a lot, your body is going to be sore afterwards. But the medical team is great and they got us back to training,” Marx said.
“To defend like we did against New Zealand and Australia over the past two matches in the competition has been crazy, but we must improve our attacking game and keep on improving.
“In the two wins over the All Blacks and Australia, we provided a good base for the backs. We want to attack a bit more because we were on the defence a bit. We will listen to the coaches’ plans and take it from there,” he added.
We must try to correct our wrongs in the past matches