Makazole Mapimpi (born 26 July 1990) is a South African professional rugby union player for the in the United Rugby Championship and South Africa national team. He usually plays as a winger and centre. He was part of the winning Springboks of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. He became the first South African to score a try in a world cup final.
Biography Mapimpi was born in Tsholomnqa, a rural area and village situated in East London in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa in the Amathole District and raised in a rural and poor environment. From being selected into the Springboks in June 2018, he emerged as a best Winger of the year and had a meteoric rise on the international front. At the 2019 Rugby World Cup, South African players were invited to provide photos of their family that would 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 himself. When Rassie Erasmus, the coach, asks him why, he admits having nobody left. His parents, as well as his siblings, all died.Rassie Erasmus reveals the reason why Mapimpi didn’t have photos of his family on the back of his Springbok shirt Springboks proud of Mapimpi's special story
Schooling Mapimpi currently represents The Sharks He has amassed more than 100 senior appearances in all senior competitions.
He attended Jim Mvabasa SS School, King William's Town, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Youth
As a child, Mapimpi grew up in the Tsholomnqa village.Press Reader In 2009, Mapimpi was a member of the team.
Club career Border Bulldogs Mapimpi was one of several amateur club players brought into the provincial set-up at the start of 2014 after the professional side was declared bankrupt. He was included in their squad for the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition and made his debut in their opening match against a . Border lost the match 46–24, but Mapimpi marked his first-class debut with a try shortly after half-time. He also started in their 6–60 loss to Eastern Cape rivals and their next match against Kenyan invitational side , scoring the Border Bulldogs' second try in that match to help them to an 18–17 win, their only victory of the competition. He also started the remaining four matches in the competition, scoring his third try of the campaign in their match against the , as the Border Bulldogs finished bottom of the log.
Mapimpi 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 . He missed their next match against the , 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 , which turned out to be the Border Bulldogs' only victory of the season as they ran out 19–14 winners. He scored tries in consecutive matches against the and a side that eventually finished top of the log 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 in Alice; 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.
Mapimpi 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 – 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 announced that they contracted Mapimpi until the end of the 2018 season. This gave Mapimpi a super chance to profile himself and his skills, resulting in an opportunity to move to the Sharks, being a more prominent Rugby Union.
Sharks In January 2023, he was banned for two weeks after being found guilty of making contact with the eyes of Bordeaux Bègles scrum half Maxime Lucu during the 2022–23 Champions Cup. He was banned again, 3 games into his return, for the same offence; admitting he made contact with the eye or eye area of Cardiff hooker Efan Daniel during a 42–22 in the URC.
Honours
The Sharks - Club Rugby 2023/24 EPCR Challenge Cup Winner 2024 Currie Cup Championship Winner
South Africa - International Rugby 2019 Rugby Championship Winner 2019 Rugby World Cup Japan Winner 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa Winner 2023 Rugby World Cup France Winner 2023 Qatar Airways Cup in Twickenham - Springboks vs All Blacks Winner 2024 Qatar Airways Cup in Twickenham - Springboks vs Wales Winner 2024 Mandela Challenge Plate - Springboks vs Wallabies Winner 2024 Freedom Cup - Springboks vs All Blacks Winner 2024 Rugby Championship Winner 2024 Prince William Cup - Springboks vs Wales 2024 Autumn Series Winner 2025 Rugby Championship winner
Statistics Test match record
Opponent P W D L Try Pts %Won 8 6 0 2 5 25 7 3 0 4 2 10 3 2 0 1 1 5 3 2 0 1 2 10 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 10 2 2 0 0 5 25 1 1 0 0 2 10 8 3 1 4 2 10 1 1 0 0 3 15 1 1 0 0 3 15 2 2 0 0 4 20 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 5 0 1 2 10 Total 47 31 1 15 33 165 Pld = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, Try = Tries scored, Pts = Points scored
International tries
Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score 1 Washington, D.C., United States RFK Stadium2018 June rugby union tests 2 June 2018 Loss 20–22 2 Durban, South AfricaKings Park Stadium 2018 Rugby Championship 18 August 2018 Win 34–21 3 4Brisbane, AustraliaSuncorp Stadium2018 Rugby Championship8 September 2018Loss23–185Salta, ArgentinaEstadio Padre Ernesto Martearena2019 Rugby Championship10 August 2019Win13–46 6 Kumagaya, JapanKumagaya Rugby Stadium2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 6 September 2019 Win 7–41 7 8 9 Toyota, JapanToyta Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 28 September 2019 Win 57–3 10 11Shizuoka, JapanShizuoka Stadium2019 Rugby World Cup4 October 2019Win49–3 12 Chōfu, JapanTokyo Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup 20 October 2019 Win 3–26 13 14Yokohama, JapanInternational Stadium Yokohama2019 Rugby World Cup Final2 November 2019Win12–3215Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Stadium2021 British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa31 July 2021Win27–916Port Elizabeth, South AfricaNelson Mandela Bay Stadium2021 Rugby Championship21 August 2021Win29–1017Gold Coast, AustraliaRobina Stadium2021 Rugby Championship2 October 2021Win31–29 18 Edinburgh, ScotlandMurrayfield Stadium 2021 Autumn Nations Series 13 November 2021 Win 15–30 1920London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2021 Autumn Nations Series20 November 2021Loss27–2621Johannesburg, South AfricaEmirates Airline Park2022 Rugby Championship13 August 2022Loss23–3522Sydney, AustraliaSydney Football Stadium2022 Rugby Championship3 September 2022Win8–2423Buenos Aires, ArgentinaEstadio José Amalfitani2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches5 August 2023Win13–2424 Bordeaux, FranceStade de Bordeaux2023 Rugby World Cup 17 September 2023 Win 76–0252627London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2024 June test22 June 2024Win41–1328 Bloemfontein, South AfricaFree State Stadium2024 mid-year tests 20 July 2024 Win 64–212930 31 Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Stadium 2024 end-of-year rugby union internationals 10 November 2024 Win 15–323233Gqeberha, South AfricaNelson Mandela Bay Stadium2025 Italy tour of South Africa12 July 2025Win45–0
References
https://www.springboks.rugby/news-features/articles/2024/09/07/boks-dig-deep-to-beat-nz-and-win-the-freedom-cup/
External links Makazole Mapimpi at Springboks