JOHANNESBURG - While Madosh Tambwe said it felt “great” to score four tries in the Lions’ 52-31 win over the Stormers at the weekend, he credited his teammates for his remarkable achievement.
The 20-year-old wing, who was born in Kinshasa and matriculated at Parktown Boys’ High School, scored a hat-trick inside 13 minutes and added a fourth try in the second half as the Lions bounced back in style following a difficult last month during which they lost three out of four matches.
“It’s a great feeling, but all the credit must go to the team. It’s not possible to play without teammates, and especially Elton (Jantjies) and Boeboes (Andries Coetzee) ... they found the space at the back," he said. “Also to the coaches who picked me and backed me to play this week.”
While Tambwe’s first try, inside the first minute, was down to his own vision and pace, when he picked up the ball after a kick into space by the Stormers’ Damian Willemse and ran in untouched from 60 metres out, his third and fourth tries were down to the vision of Coetzee and Jantjies.
On 13 minutes he ran on to a cross-field kick by Coetzee, who’d spotted the space behind the Stormers line, and in the 53rd he plucked the ball out of the air - out of awaiting Willemse’s hands - after Jantjies had chipped into space over the Stormers’ backs.
For his second try, Tambwe was in the right place at the right time to run on to a short pass close to the tryline and power his way over.
“The first try stands out and is the one I enjoyed most.”
A post shared by Madosh Michael Tambwe™(@madosh_michael14) on Apr 9, 2018 at 12:37am PDT
Coach Swys de Bruin added: “How’s that? If I had a hat I would take it off for him. He was so much a part of the plan, and Elton picked him up perfectly.”
Tambwe didn’t finish the game, coming off with a niggle on 54 minutes to a standing ovation from the Ellis Park faithful. He is expected to be fine for next week’s trip to Australasia.