Player of the Year trend reflects well on top Japanese league

Japan’s Rugby League One (JRLO) is celebrating a hat-trick of World Rugby Player of the Year awards after Kubota Spears hooker Malcolm Marx received this year’s accolade.

It is the third year in a row that a player from a JRLO club has been honoured this way, with Marx following in the footsteps of All Blacks back-rower Ardie Savea and fellow Springbok, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and continues a longstanding connection.

Since the Player of the Year award’s inception in 2001, players who’ve played for Japanese clubs at some stage of their careers have received the selection panel’s endorsement 13 times. This includes three-time winner, former Kobelco Kobe Steelers fly-half Dan Carter, and Beauden Barrett and du Toit, who have won it twice.

Marx is one of four World Rugby Players of the Year who will appear in League One in the upcoming season, which is three ahead of any other domestic club competition featuring an active former winner. Fellow South African du Toit, Savea and fellow Kiwi Brodie Retallick are the others who will grace League One in the 2025-26 season.

After missing the third edition of the competition due to the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, which he sustained at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Marx returned to play a leading role as the former champions qualified for last season’s JRLO final, before losing out to defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo in a hotly-contested match.

The Springbok hooker scored 11 tries in 19 appearances for the Spears last term, which took his overall career tally for the club to 35 from 51 matches since he arrived in the country for the final edition of the Top League, the previous incarnation of JRLO.

“Malcolm illustrates all that our league stands for, in terms of exciting and entertaining the fans, providing excellence on the field, while passing on the benefits of his experience, and the expertise that he has developed, to the Japanese players within the Spears team,” said League One chairman Genichi Tamatsuka.

“We congratulate him on his achievement and look forward to his return for the upcoming season.”

The fifth edition of League One kicks off on December 13 when Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo host Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, with the Spears visiting last year’s third-placed team, Kobe, later in the day.

“It is very pleasing to have so many of the game’s biggest stars coming to Japan after their international commitments,” added Tamatsuka.

“Their ongoing excellence for their nations reflects the great preparation for Test rugby, both physically and mentally that they receive from playing in our League, due to its competitive nature, but also the excellent support in their and their families’ wellbeing they receive from club staff.

“I congratulate all of our clubs, but particularly Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay in this instance, for the wonderful environment they provide that allows the players to thrive, while helping to raise the overall competitive standard each year.”

The players who have featured in the Japan club game who have won the World Rugby Player of the Year are:

2004: Schalk Burger (South Africa and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath)
2005: 2012, 2015: Dan Carter (New Zealand and Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
2008: Shane Williams (Wales and Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars)
2013: Kieran Read (New Zealand and Toyota Verblitz)
2014: Brodie Retallick (New Zealand and Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
2016, 2017: Beauden Barrett (New Zealand, Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath and Toyota Verblitz)
2023: Ardie Savea (New Zealand and Kobelco Kobe Steelers)
2019, 2024: Pieter Steph du Toit (South Africa and Toyota Verblitz)
2025: Malcolm Marx (South Africa and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay)