Barely two months after making his Super Rugby debut, explosive Border Bulldogs winger, Makazole Mapimpi, has been snatched up by the Cheetahs.
The speedy Mdantsane-born star caught the eye of the Free State franchise with his sparkling displays for the Kings.
Mapimpi, 26, is currently on loan at the Port Elizabeth franchise and was expected to return to the Bulldogs at the end of the Super Rugby season.
But he has signed with the Cheetahs until the end of next year. Speaking to Saturday Dispatch from Perth in Australia, Mapimpi said he was thrilled at joining the Cheetahs.
“I’m very excited to have joined the Cheetahs. They play the kind of exciting running rugby that I love and I was very happy when I got the deal.
“I think the decision I made is a very good decision and I’m very excited. “They are the current Currie Cup champs after all,” he added.
It will be another big step up for Mapimpi as it will see him playing Currie Cup rugby for the first time. Even if the Cheetahs end up getting the chop alongside the Kings from Super Rugby as rumoured, Mapimpi will still showcase his talent on the country's biggest local stage for one of the core franchise teams.
“I am really looking forward to the challenge,” admitted Mapimpi. Since making his Super Rugby debut for the Kings in their first match of the season, Mapimpi has played in three of the five matches and scored two fantastic tries.
Having missed the Kings’ last match against the Lions a fortnight ago due to a thigh injury, Mapimpi will be back on the wing when Deon Davids’ charges take on the Western Force in Perth tomorrow.
He will be eager to justify the faith shown in him by the Cheetahs with yet another brilliant performance.
“I am happy to be back and I am eager to get back on the field,” he said.
Mapimpi has big goals for himself this season and another massive performance against the Force will set him well on the road to achieving them.
“I want to be among the top three try-scorers in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition this year.
“But I am happy with my form so far. However, there is always room for improvement to better my game,” the media-shy player said.
Despite having started the season with just one win from their five matches, Mapimpi believes that there is still more to come from the Port Elizabeth-based outfit and that some interesting results are on the horizon.
“We have definitely been improving as a team from game one and the personnel we have in the team is getting more confident by the day,” Mapimpi said.
On a bit of a sombre note, local fans of Mapimpi may have seen him play in the colours of the Bulldogs for the last time. His last game for Border was the 2016 Currie Cup First Division semifinal which was lost to the Griffons. However, he may make a return to the team towards the end of his career.
Bulldogs interim coach, David Dobela said it was a loss to lose a player of Mapimpi’s calibre.
“We are going to miss him a lot. He was our best try-scorer last year and we were looking forward to him coming back to us,” Dobela admitted. “But we planned for this. When our players joined up with the Kings we knew that they would be sought-after, so we did expect something like this could happen.”
The Super Rugby match against the Western Force kicks off at 8.05am tomorrow.
Cheetahs snatch up flyer Mapimpi
The speedy Mdantsane-born star caught the eye of the Free State franchise with his sparkling displays for the Kings.
Mapimpi, 26, is currently on loan at the Port Elizabeth franchise and was expected to return to the Bulldogs at the end of the Super Rugby season.
But he has signed with the Cheetahs until the end of next year. Speaking to Saturday Dispatch from Perth in Australia, Mapimpi said he was thrilled at joining the Cheetahs.
“I’m very excited to have joined the Cheetahs. They play the kind of exciting running rugby that I love and I was very happy when I got the deal.
“I think the decision I made is a very good decision and I’m very excited. “They are the current Currie Cup champs after all,” he added.
It will be another big step up for Mapimpi as it will see him playing Currie Cup rugby for the first time. Even if the Cheetahs end up getting the chop alongside the Kings from Super Rugby as rumoured, Mapimpi will still showcase his talent on the country's biggest local stage for one of the core franchise teams.
“I am really looking forward to the challenge,” admitted Mapimpi. Since making his Super Rugby debut for the Kings in their first match of the season, Mapimpi has played in three of the five matches and scored two fantastic tries.
Having missed the Kings’ last match against the Lions a fortnight ago due to a thigh injury, Mapimpi will be back on the wing when Deon Davids’ charges take on the Western Force in Perth tomorrow.
He will be eager to justify the faith shown in him by the Cheetahs with yet another brilliant performance.
“I am happy to be back and I am eager to get back on the field,” he said.
Mapimpi has big goals for himself this season and another massive performance against the Force will set him well on the road to achieving them.
“I want to be among the top three try-scorers in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition this year.
“But I am happy with my form so far. However, there is always room for improvement to better my game,” the media-shy player said.
Despite having started the season with just one win from their five matches, Mapimpi believes that there is still more to come from the Port Elizabeth-based outfit and that some interesting results are on the horizon.
“We have definitely been improving as a team from game one and the personnel we have in the team is getting more confident by the day,” Mapimpi said.
On a bit of a sombre note, local fans of Mapimpi may have seen him play in the colours of the Bulldogs for the last time. His last game for Border was the 2016 Currie Cup First Division semifinal which was lost to the Griffons. However, he may make a return to the team towards the end of his career.
Bulldogs interim coach, David Dobela said it was a loss to lose a player of Mapimpi’s calibre.
“We are going to miss him a lot. He was our best try-scorer last year and we were looking forward to him coming back to us,” Dobela admitted. “But we planned for this. When our players joined up with the Kings we knew that they would be sought-after, so we did expect something like this could happen.”
The Super Rugby match against the Western Force kicks off at 8.05am tomorrow.
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