Malcolm Marx ties late great James Small on Springbok tryscorers list
09/08/2024 03:02 AM
With his second-half try at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, hooker Malcolm Marx extended his lead as South Africa’s leading tryscorer for a forward.
He also tied the late James Small on 20 tries in a Springbok jersey.
Marx was playing in his 71st Test, while Small retired for the game with 47 Test caps.
Second among the forwards is Schalk Burger jnr with 16 (86 Tests), while Bongi Mbonambi rounds out the ‘podium’ with 14 tries in 74 Tests.
Up next for Marx is the 21 tries scored by Pieter Rossouw.
It’s fairly common knowledge that former wing Bryan Habana is the all-time leadingSpringbok Test try scorer.
Habana dotted down 67 times in his 124 Tests for South Africa.
That number is well ahead of the 38 tries scored by the late Joost van der Westhuizen.
The leading active player is Makazole Mapimpi (fourth place) with 30 tries in his 44 Tests, but he’s closer to the end rather than the start of his international career.
SPRINGBOK FORWARDS WITH 10 TEST TRIES OR MORE
Player | Test tries | Test caps |
Malcolm Marx * | 20 | 71 |
Schalk Burger (jnr) | 16 | 86 |
Bongi Mbonambi * | 14 | 74 |
Juan Smith | 12 | 70 |
Mark Andrews | 12 | 77 |
Siya Kolisi * | 12 | 88 |
Bobby Skinstad | 11 | 42 |
Bismarck du Plessis | 11 | 79 |
Joe van Niekerk | 10 | 52 |
Danie Rossouw | 10 | 63 |
Francois Louw | 10 | 76 |
* denotes still active