Makazole Drex Mapimpi (born 26 July 1990) is a South African professional
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player for the
South Africa national team and the in the
United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...
. He usually plays as a
winger and centre.
He was part of the winning Springboks of the
2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...
in Japan. He became the first South African to score a try in a World Cup Final.
Biography
Mapimpi was born and raised in a rural and very poor environment. At the
2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...
, 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
Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the South Africa national rugby union team, South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup ...
, the coach, asks him why, he admits having nobody left. His parents, as well as his siblings, all passed away.
Career
Youth
As a child, Mapimpi grew up in the
Tsholomnqa village. In 2009, Mapimpi was a member of the team.
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
Kenya
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, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
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, largest_city = Nairobi
...
n 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
The 2014 Currie Cup qualification series was a tournament organised by the South African Rugby Union. It featured seven teams and was played in June and July 2014, with the winner qualifying for the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division. The remainin ...
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
The 2014 Currie Cup First Division was contested between 29 August and 17 October 2014. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union ...
. 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
The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Afric ...
, 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
The 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament was a competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which featured seven teams and was played between 12 June and 25 July 2015. The winner of the tournament would qualify for the 2015 Currie Cu ...
tournament, with his side causing an upset by beating – the team that won the qualification tournament in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
to earn a spot in the
2014 Currie Cup Premier Division
The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...
– 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.
International career
Mapimpi made his test debut for the
Springboks
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...
on 2 June 2018 against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
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at the age of 27.
Mapimpi was in the team that won the
2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...
under the leadership of
Siya Kolisi
Siyamthanda Kolisi (born 16 June 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team and also the Cell C Sharks. He plays club rugby for the in the Currie Cup. He generally plays as a ...
, where he scored 6 tries including two in the
2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...
quarter final match against
Japan in a 26–3 victory. and one in the final against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. 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 3 September 2022, Mapimpi has the rare achievement of having scored a try against every team he has played in international rugby.
Statistics
Test match record
Pld = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, Try = Tries scored, Pts = Points scored
International tries
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mapimpi, Makazole
1990 births
Living people
People from Mdantsane
South African rugby union players
Rugby union centres
Rugby union wings
Border Bulldogs players
Southern Kings players
South Africa international rugby union players
Free State Cheetahs players
Cheetahs (rugby union) players
Sharks (rugby union) players
Sharks (Currie Cup) players
NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka players
Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape