Johannesburg - He may have been crowned SA Rugby’s Player of the year on Friday afternoon, but Bok hooker Malcolm Marx believes he needs to work even harder this year to keep his place in the national side.

Many may scoff at the thought of the hooker ever losing his place but Marx was humble and focused as he received his award from SARU president Mark Alexander in Johannesburg.

“Obviously I’m thankful, humbled at the same time but then again like I’ve said before this couldn’t have been done if it wasn’t for my teammates and my coaches – if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be on the field, so this award has to go out to them,” Marx said at a press conference held to announce the award.

“Definitely, every year is a new year and a week in rugby is a long time, obviously we will see what happens then,” he added.

Marx reiterated he would have to work on his consistency and that would be his focus in this year’s Super Rugby series.

“There is always room for improvement in my opinion. I’ve always strived to be better in everything I’ve done, whether its small or its big, its those little one percentres that can make me better on the weekend.

“I’m just focusing on my own job, I’m not going to worry about anything else around it. My own job is my job at the end of the day. I can’t get ahead of myself. 2018 is a new year and obviously I have to work harder.

“Obviously with a new year and new beginnings anything can happen. A new guy could jump onto the scene as it happens every single year. Like I said next week Super Rugby starts and we will see what happens up until June and see what happens then.”

Marx won two other awards other than the main one as the 23-year-old star from the Lions was also named the SA Rugby Young Player (U23) and Super Rugby Player of the Year for 2017.

Marx, who retained the Young Player of the Year award he won in 2016, is the first player since Ashwin Willemse in 2003 to win the prestigious SA Rugby Player and Young Player of the Year Awards in the same season.

“This is a magnificent achievement for Malcolm and on behalf of the entire South African rugby fraternity, I would like to congratulate him on a superb season,” said SA Rugby President, Mark Alexander.

“Malcolm was a rock for both the Springboks and the Lions and at only 23 I’m sure he will still go on to accomplish big things in our game.”

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