Makazole Mapimpi

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Makazole Mapimpi
Birth nameMakazole Drex Mapimpi
Date of birth (1990-07-26) 26 July 1990 (age 31)
Place of birthTsholomnqa, South Africa
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Weight91 kg (201 lb; 14 st 5 lb)
SchoolJim Mvabasa SS School, King William's Town
Rugby union career
Position(s) Winger / Centre
Current team Sharks / Sharks (Currie Cup)
Youth career
2009 Border Bulldogs
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2016 Border Bulldogs 54 (149)
2017 Southern Kings 14 (55)
2017–2018 Free State Cheetahs 6 (35)
2017–2018 Cheetahs 13 (50)
2018–2020 Sharks 32 (70)
2018 Sharks XV 1 (0)
2020–2021 NTT Red Hurricanes 6 (20)
2021– Sharks 1 (5)
2021– Sharks (Currie Cup) 0 (0)
Correct as of 13 September 2021
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017 South Africa A 1 (5)
2018– South Africa 25 (100)
Correct as of 20 November 2021

Makazole Drex Mapimpi (born 26 July 1990) is a South African professional rugby union player for the South Africa national team and the Sharks in Super Rugby. He usually plays as a winger.[1] He was part of the winning Springboks of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. He became the first South African to score a try in a World Cup Final.

Biography[]

He was born in a rural and very poor environment. At the 2019 Rugby World Cup, South African players are invited to provide photos of their family that will be integrated into the flocked numbers on the back of their jersey. On this occasion, Mapimpi is the only one to give only a picture of him. When Rassie Erasmus, the coach, asks him why, he admits having nobody left. His parents, as well as his siblings, all died.[2][3]

Career[]

Youth[]

As a child, he grew up in the Tsholomnqa village.[4] In 2009, Mapimpi was a member of the Border U19 team.

Border Bulldogs[]

He was one of several amateur club players brought into the Border Bulldogs provincial set-up at the start of 2014 after the professional side was declared bankrupt.[5] He was included in their squad for the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition and made his debut in their opening match against a Sharks XV. Border lost the match 46–24, but Mapimpi marked his first-class debut with a try shortly after half-time.[6] He also started in their 6–60 loss to Eastern Cape rivals Eastern Province Kings[7] and their next match against Kenyan invitational side Simba XV, scoring the Border Bulldogs' second try in that match to help them to an 18–17 win, their only victory of the competition.[8] He also started the remaining four matches in the competition, scoring his third try of the campaign in their match against the SWD Eagles,[9] as the Border Bulldogs finished bottom of the log.

He was retained for their 2014 Currie Cup qualification campaign and he made his debut in the Currie Cup competition by starting their 52–5 opening-day defeat to Griquas.[10] He missed their next match against the Boland Cavaliers,[11] before starting their other four matches in the competition. However, the Border Bulldogs lost all six of their matches to finish bottom of the log and qualified to the 2014 Currie Cup First Division. Mapimpi once again started all five of their matches, including their first match against the Falcons, which turned out to be the Border Bulldogs' only victory of the season as they ran out 19–14 winners.[12] He scored tries in consecutive matches against the SWD Eagles[13] and a Leopards side that eventually finished top of the log[14] but could not prevent the Bulldogs from finished bottom of the log with a single win all season.

Mapimpi returned in the 2015 Vodacom Cup, but ended up on the losing side in their first six matches in the seven-match competition. Mapimpi was the star performer in their final match of the season against the Boland Cavaliers in Alice;[15] he scored a hat-trick of tries and, with regular kicker Masixole Banda unavailable for this match, also took over the kicking duties and slotted three conversions and a penalty. He finished the match with a personal haul of 24 points in the Border Bulldogs' 29–5 victory to help them overtake the Boland Cavaliers on the Southern Section log.[16]

He also scored a try three minutes from the end of the Border Bulldogs' first match of the 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament, with his side causing an upset by beating Griquas – the team that won the qualification tournament in 2014 to earn a spot in the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division – 20–13 in a match played in East London.

Free State Cheetahs[]

In April 2017, the Free State Cheetahs announced that they contracted Mapimpi until the end of the 2018 season.[17]

International career[]

He made his test debut for the Springboks on 2 June 2018 against Wales in Washington, D.C. at the age of 27.

He was in the team that won the 2019 Rugby World Cup under the leadership of Siya Kolisi, where he scored 6 tries including two in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter final match against Japan in a 26–3 victory.[18] and one in the final against England. Mapimpi is the first player in the history of Springboks to score a try in a Rugby World Cup final. The previous Springboks World Cup wins were without tries.

As of 2 October 2021, Mapimpi has the rare achievement of having scored a try against every team he has played in international rugby.

Statistics[]

Test match record[]

As of 13 November 2021
Opponent P W D L Try Pts %Won
 Argentina 4 3 0 1 4 20 75
 Australia 4 1 0 3 1 5 25
 British and Irish Lions 3 2 0 1 1 5 66.67
 England 2 1 0 1 2 10 50
 Italy 1 1 0 0 1 5 100
 Japan 2 2 0 0 5 25 100
 Namibia 1 1 0 0 2 10 100
 New Zealand 4 1 1 2 1 5 25
 Scotland 1 1 0 0 2 10 100
 Wales 3 2 0 1 1 5 75
Total 25 15 1 9 20 105 60

Pld = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, Try = Tries scored, Pts = Points scored

International tries[]

As of 20 November 2021 [19]
Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  Wales Washington, D.C., United States RFK Stadium 2018 June rugby union tests 2 June 2018 Loss 20–22
2  Argentina Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium 2018 Rugby Championship 18 August 2018 Win 34–21
3
4  Australia Brisbane, Australia Suncorp Stadium 2018 Rugby Championship 8 September 2018 Loss 23–18
5  Argentina Salta, Argentina Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena 2019 Rugby Championship 10 August 2019 Win 13–46
6  Japan Kumagaya, Japan Kumagaya Rugby Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 6 September 2019 Win 7–41
7
8
9  Namibia Toyota, Japan Toyta Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 28 September 2019 Win 57–3
10
11  Italy Shizuoka, Japan Shizuoka Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 4 October 2019 Win 49–3
12  Japan Chōfu, Japan Tokyo Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 20 October 2019 Win 3–26
13
14  England Yokohama, Japan International Stadium Yokohama 2019 Rugby World Cup 2 November 2019 Win 12–32
15  British and Irish Lions Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town Stadium 2021 British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa 31 July 2021 Win 27–9
16  Argentina Port Elizabeth, South Africa Nelson Madela Bay Stadium 2021 Rugby Championship 21 August 2021 Win 29–10
17  New Zealand Gold Coast, Australia Robina Stadium 2021 Rugby Championship 2 October 2021 Win 31–29
18  Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Stadium 2021 Autumn Nations Series 13 November 2021 Win 15–30
19
20  England London, England Twickenham Stadium 2021 Autumn Nations Series 20 November 2021 Loss 27–26

References[]

  1. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Makazole Mapimpi". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. ^ Rassie Erasmus reveals the reason why Mapimpi didn’t have photos of his family on the back of his Springbok shirt [1]
  3. ^ Springboks proud of Mapimpi's special story
  4. ^ Press Reader
  5. ^ "Bankrupt BRFU can't pay staff". Daily Dispatch. 16 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  6. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 24-46 Cell C Sharks XV". South African Rugby Union. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  7. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province Kings 60-6 Border Bulldogs". South African Rugby Union. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  8. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 18-17 Tusker Simba XV". South African Rugby Union. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  9. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 26-40 SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  10. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – GWK Griquas 52-5 Border". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 12-37 Boland Cavaliers". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  12. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 19-14 Valke". South African Rugby Union. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  13. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – SWD Eagles 31-22 Border Bulldogs". South African Rugby Union. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  14. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 19-34 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border Bulldogs 29-5 Boland Cavaliers". South African Rugby Union. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Border Star Has Super Rugby Dreams". MyPlayers. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Vrystaat lok Kings se Mapimpi". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Match 44, Quarter Final". South African Rugby Union. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  19. ^ "Makazole Mapimpi". 19 November 2021.
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