DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 18: Makazole Mapimpi of the Hollywoodbets Sharks tackling Michael Lowry of Ulster during the United Rugby Championship match between Hollywoodbets Sharks and Ulster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium on October 18, 2025 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images)
Springbok wing Makazole Mapimpi will be ineligible for the next Sharks match as well as four Springbok Tests after receiving a suspension for a tip tackle in the United Rugby Championship last weekend.
These include the Sharks’ fifth-round URC match against Scarlets at Kings Park on Saturday, as well as four Springbok Tests in which he would have served as a squad backup.
Mapimpi, 35, and Vincent Koch were both penalised for separate dangerous tackles on Ulster’s fullback Michael Lowry during their 34-26 loss to the Irish side in Durban, but Mapimpi’s yellow card was upgraded to red.
It was the Sharks’ fourth game without a win, though they featured 13 Springboks in their starting XV and four more on the bench.
Mapimpi’s third red in three years
Referee Ben Whitehouse showed Mapimpi a red card in the 55th minute under law 9.18 – A player must not lift an opponent off the ground and drop or drive that player so that their head and/or upper body make contact with the ground.
In the wing’s responses to the judicial officer overseeing the disciplinary process (Sheriff Kathrine Mackie), he had accepted that he had committed an act of foul play which warranted a red card.
Mackie found that the incident met the red card threshold, with an entry point of low-end warranting six weeks.
“Mapimpi received two red cards in 2023 and 2025, and cannot be said to have a clean disciplinary record,” a URC statement read. “The player received one week mitigation after acknowledging and accepting act of foul play was committed, which results in a five-game suspension.”
Both previous incidents involved eye-gouging – Cardiff hooker Efan Daniel in January this year and Bordeaux Begles player Maxime Luca in 2023.
Fixtures Makazole Mapimpi is unavailable for:
Sharks v Scarlets, 25 October URC
South Africa v Japan, 1 November, Outgoing Tour
France v South Africa, 8 November, Nations Series
Italy v South Africa, 15 November, Nations Series
Ireland v South Africa, 22 November, Nations Series
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