Springboks suffer Malcolm Marx Rugby World Cup blow

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber on Wednesday evening named a new-look side for their second Pool B clash against Romania on Saturday evening.

Marx was among those ommitted from the 23-man squad, with Nienaber advising that the hooker was undergoing further assessments before any details could be shared.

It has since been confirmed that the 29-year-old has now been ruled out of the remainder of the campaign through a knee injury he picked up in training earlier on Wednesday.

"Marx, who was not included in Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s matchday squad to face Romania in Bordeaux on Sunday, went down at training on Wednesday after having his knee caught in contact," read an update from the camp on Thursday morning.

It has been further noted that, though there are standby players ready to come in should the need arise, a decision has been taken not to add to the squad in camp.

“First and foremost, we are extremely disappointed for Malcolm, and we wish him all the best in his recovery,” said Nienaber.

“He’s been working very hard to be in the best form possible for the tournament, and it’s tragic that his campaign has ended this way. As a team we will remain in contact with him, as we do with all injured players like Lukhanyo (Am), Handre (Pollard) and Lood (de Jager) and support him as much as we can through the recovery process.

“We have enough cover at hooker with Bongi (Mbonambi) and Deon (Fourie) in the squad, while Marco (van Staden) has also been training there and has been named on all our team sheets so far as a hooker option.

“We’ll assess our needs for the rest of the tournament and confirm who we are calling up as an additional player later this week.”