Malcolm Marx dispatches Jamie George in vote for world's best hooker

Springboks star Malcolm Marx has been voted the world’s best No. 8 by fans around the globe after dispatching England rake Jamie George in a poll on social media.

The dynamic 25-year-old claimed the victory with a winning margin of 56 percent on RugbyPass‘ Facebook and Instagram accounts as part of the Straight 8 Fan Vote campaign to determine the best player on the planet in each position.

Marx and George were left as the last two players standing in the third and final round of the knockout bracket after having fought off the challenges of some big names in the prior two rounds.

Isolation Nation | Episode 6 | Sam Cane, Dane Coles and more

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After thrashing Argentina and Jaguares hooker Julian Montoya with 89 percent of the vote, Marx backed that up with a convincing win against All Blacks veteran Dane Coles with more than 61 percent of the public’s backing in the semi-final.

On the flip side of the draw, George defeated French youngster Julian Marchand after accruing 79 percent of the vote, before going on to take down All Blacks incumbent Codie Taylor more than 56 percent of the fans’ approval.

In the end, though, it was the World Cup-winner Marx – who a World Rugby player of the year nominee in 2018 – who proved to to be too good for his Saracens and British and Irish Lions counterpart.

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The result means the NTT Communications Shining Arcs recruit will feature the RugbyPass Straight 8 Fan Vote World XV alongside many of his international teammates who have already won previous instalments of the campaign.

The likes of Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Duane Vermeulen and Cheslin Kolbe are among those to have made the fan-voted side, as have All Blacks star Ardie Savea, Fijian flyer Semi Radradra, Scotland captain Stuart Hogg and England lock Maro Itoje.

The seventh instalment of the Straight 8 Fan Vote is already underway, with the outside centre vote now up and running.

To have your say, click the stories on either the RugbyPass Facebook page (here) or the RugbyPass Instagram page (here).