If Makazole "Drex" Mapimpi found himself in Dillyn Leyds's position last week against the Wallabies, the mane pulling Israel Folau indulged in wouldn't have taken place. Mapimpi is bigger and, more importantly, bald.
However, the former Southern Kings and Cheetahs winger has had to busy himself with the Pro14 where he is one of the joint-top try scorers next to Scarlets wing Johnny McNicholl and teammate Torsten van Jaarsveld with five tries each.
Mapimpi was also SA's top Super Rugby try scorer with 11 touchdowns behind the Hurricanes' duo Vince Aso and Ngani Laumape. The latter, who operates at No12, scored the most tries (15), and has gained four All Black test caps for his efforts.
However, his path is currently blocked by Sonny-Bill Williams, who started in yesterday's Rugby Championship test between South Africa and New Zealand at Newlands.UNFORTUNATE TO BE OVERLOOKED
Former Springbok utility back and backs coach Ricardo Loubscher said Mapimpi has been unfortunate to be overlooked for Bok duty, but said he is a shoo-in for the end-of-year tour where the Boks will be up against Italy, Ireland, Wales and France.
"The end-of-year tour is normally a good platform to introduce players who are new to the system to the intricacies of world rugby," said Loubscher. "It exposes them to the team culture, a different rugby culture and the best that comes with facing the northern hemisphere teams in autumn."We've seen through Pat Lambie, Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen the importance of blooding players during the end-of-year tour. It's going to be the perfect opportunity for someone like Mapimpi to prove himself.
"If you look at a guy like him, you look at the drive he has to succeed and achieve, you can sense he's enjoying his rugby. He always smiles in his celebrations. It's nice for him and if you look at how the Southern Kings grew as a team during Super Rugby, the credit had to go to the players and the coaches."
The Cheetahs have finally found their feet in the Pro14 after a slow start. After heavy defeats in Ireland to Ulster (42-19) and Munster (51-18), they've made hay while the sun shone at home with wins against Zebre (54-39), Leinster (38-19) and Ospreys (44-25).
However, their home run was ended by a feisty Glasgow Warriors side who needed a late Rob Harley try to beat the improving Cheetahs unit 29-26 on Friday evening...