Cell C Sharks Hero of the Week - Makazole Mapimpi

It wasn’t a Heineken Champions Cup game but Springbok wing Makazole Mapimpi used his team’s penultimate Vodacom United Rugby Championship league clash with Benetton to underline just why he was the leading South African individual performer in the European competition.

With South African interest in the Champions Cup now over following the quarterfinal exits of the Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers, Mapimpi will end top when it comes to number of defenders beaten, and also second among all South Africans when it comes to number of metres made. Interestingly enough, it is his Sharks teammate Curwin Bosch who is currently top in that regard in the entire competition.

The Sharks started slowly against Benetton but it was whenever Mapimpi got the ball that they gave their supporters signs of encouragement, often wriggling his way through defenders and using his pace to stretch the opposition.

He was a bit of a lone ranger in the first half, as the Sharks attack struggled to get going. However, in the second half the players inside him found their groove and although Benetton refused to go away, and kept bouncing back, Mapimpi easily rounded the defence for the first of two good late tries that effectively ended the visiting team’s challenge.

In that first try his understanding with his Bok World Cup winning teammate came to the fore, with the two players combining superbly.