Malcolm Marx and Ardie Savea are Keo’s Kings of the Series

Malcolm Marx was my Springboks player of the three-Test series in South Africa. Ardie Savea was my All Blacks pick. Zels saw it differently. He went for Damian de Allende and Jordie Barrett.

That was how we closed the latest episode of the Keo & Zels Rugby Show: four exceptional players, four compelling cases and two very different views from the same three Test matches.

Malcolm Marx

My Springbok choice had to be Marx.

Damian de Allende was outstanding, especially in Cape Town and Johannesburg, but Marx was immense across all three Tests.

He played the big moments better than anyone.

Marx was at the heart of the Springboks physical challenge. He scrummed, mauled, carried, cleaned and tackled. He played huge minutes in the most demanding position in the pack and still had the engine to influence matches deep into the contest.

His contribution in Cape Town was decisive and his lineout-maul try at the FNB Stadium was the defining image of the series victory.

Marx did not score in the corner. He scored under the posts and pumped his fist knowing the series had been won.

It was the Springboks answer to Sean Fitzpatrick’s celebration when the All Blacks won their historic series in South Africa in 1996.

This time, order was restored.

Marx is not simply the best hooker in the world. There is Marx, and then there is a group fighting to be ranked second.

When I think of this generation of world champion Springboks, I think of Malcolm Marx.

My All Blacks selection was Savea.

Jordie Barrett was excellent and deserved Zels’s vote, but Savea’s influence went beyond his individual contributions.

He arrived later than the rest of the squad, yet immediately gave the All Blacks presence, leadership and inspiration. What he produced in Cape Town was exceptional and his opening 30 minutes at the FNB Stadium were even better.

Savea carried the fight physically and emotionally. He was the All Blacks’ captain, their standard-setter and the player who consistently looked capable of shifting the momentum of a Test.

Zels’s choices reflected where he believed the three-Test battle was most fiercely fought: in the back rows and in the midfield.

Barrett was his All Blacks MVP because of the volume and quality of his work. He was physical, powerful and central to unlocking the Springboks’ defence with his passing and handling skills.

He also grafted defensively. Barrett did not just provide polish to the All Blacks’ attack; he supplied muscle and work rate.

De Allende was Zels’s Springbok MVP.

The veteran midfielder was particularly influential in the second and third Tests. He got through an enormous amount of work, confronted the All Blacks physically and used his power and decision-making to fracture their defence.

De Allende and Barrett were opposing centres, but their value was built on more than wearing No 12. Both were asked to carry, create, defend and lead.

They delivered.

We sat alongside each other at Ellis Park, the DHL Stadium and the FNB Stadium, but we did not always see the same game. That is the beauty of the discussion.

Zels saw Barrett and De Allende.

I saw Savea and Marx.

Watch the latest Keo & Zels Rugby Show for our full reflection on the Springboks’ 2-1 series triumph, the players who shaped it and why the All Blacks remain the greatest threat to the world champions.