CAPE TOWN, Oct 30 - Rugby’s World Player of the Year Malcolm Marx will leave Japan after seven years next June and returning home to South Africa, he said on Friday.

The 32-year-old hooker, a double World Cup winner with the Springboks, will leave Kubota Spears at the end of the season.

Marx, who has won 93 caps for South Africa, left the Johannesburg-based Lions in 2020 to play for NTT Shining Arcs and then joined Spears, with whom he won Japan’s League One title in 2023 and reached the final in the last two seasons.

"Due to family circumstances, I have made the difficult decision not to renew my contract beyond the 2026-27 season and to return to South Africa," Marx said in a statement on the club’s website.

"My time with the Spears has been an invaluable experience for both me and my family, and one that we will always look back on fondly."

The Japanese season starts in December.

Marx is expected to sign for the Pretoria-based Bulls, local media reported. REUTERS