HE'S A NATURAL!

Try-scoring Bok Makazole Mapimpi clawed his way to the top the hard way – with passion, self-belief and grit.

- SIYABONGA DZIMBILI

HE’S been described as a try-scoring machine on a par with Bryan Habana and dubbed “a natural-born predator” by former Bok Breyton Paulse.

Punters have predicted Makazole Mapimpi will be the top try-scorer of the Rugby World Cup, a belief the 29-year-old winger helped along by scoring two tries in South Africa’s 57-3 drubbing of Namibia in Japan recently.

The tries followed the hat-trick he scored in a pre-World Cup game against the Japanese – three sizzling tries that helped the Boks to a 41-7 victory over the team that humiliated us in the previous world cup.

Sports writers didn’t waste time likening Makazole to Habana: he was the first South African to cross the line three times in a Test since Habana in the 2015 Rugby World Cup and his performance put his strike rate at eight tries in eight matches.

Making the Sharks’ point-scoring maestro all the more remarkable is the fact his road to glory wasn’t honed on the fields of a top-notch school. There were no coaches dedicated to bringing out the best in this young player and no Craven Week selection for him.

Makazole’s story is one of grit, passion and sheer self-belief.

Rugby was his number one focus at school, so after the bell rang each day he’d make the commute from Jim Mvabaza Secondary School in King William’s Town to East London, where he’d train his heart out with friends who went to school in town.

His hard work paid off, and in 2009 he was chosen to play for the Border Bulldogs in the Currie Cup First Division.

He’s always been great at the game, he tells YOU matter-of-factly, and from an early age he’d be pitted against senior players because of his natural flair on the field.