South African Rugby Stars Speak in Afrikaans and Appear to Make Light of Bongi Mbonambi' 'White---'C
- 6 months ago
South Africa's stars have seemingly made light of the ongoing dispute between Bongi Mbonambi and Tom Curry during a recent training session.
The England flanker has alleged that Mbonambi called him a 'white c' during the first half of South Africa's 16-15 Rugby World Cup semi-final win in Paris.
It was confirmed on Monday that the English Rugby Football Union had lodged an official complaint about the incident, prompting World Rugby to open an investigation.
However, amid the ongoing investigation, the South African stars have made light of the situation during a recent lineout practice.
It comes after a video posted by South African journalist Hendrik Cronjé showed Mbonambi running drills with Siya Kolisi and Deon Fourie.
Throughout the clip, as Mbonambi is throwing towards a target, an assistant coach can be heard repeatedly using an Afrikaans term, 'water kant'.
The term directly translates as 'which side', which could be relevant to the drill, however it's also similar to the alleged phrase that Mbonambi used against Curry.
In England's dramatic 15-16 loss to South Africa, Curry approached referee Ben O'Keeffe in the 28th minute of the match, and is heard to say over the ref mic: 'Sir, sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?'
O'Keeffe replied: 'Nothing, please.'
After the final whistle, there was a noticeable altercation between Curry and Mbonambi, who appeared to refuse to shake the England forward's hand and marched off down the tunnel.
Despite the ongoing investigation, both Curry and Mbonambi are expected to feature in their country's respective final matches of the tournament.
Curry will reunite with his fellow ‘Kamikaze Kid’ from the 2019 World Cup - for England's bronze final against Argentina on Friday night - as Sam Underhill will return to the England XV at openside.
In all, head coach Borthwick has made eight starting changes, with Marcus Smith restored at full-back after overcoming concussion, with Freddie Steward switching to the right wing, and Henry Arundell lining up on the opposite flank.
Meanwhile, Mbonambi is free to play for South Africa in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand despite the investigation hanging over him.
A statement released by World Rugby – the global governing body – said: 'World Rugby takes allegations of discriminatory behavior extremely seriously.
'We can confirm that we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England's Tom Curry about the use of discriminatory language during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday.
'World Rugby will not be making any further comment until the conclusion of the process.'
Mail Sport understands that the RFU complained to the tournament authorities, about the alleged outburst by Mbonambi.
The England flanker has alleged that Mbonambi called him a 'white c' during the first half of South Africa's 16-15 Rugby World Cup semi-final win in Paris.
It was confirmed on Monday that the English Rugby Football Union had lodged an official complaint about the incident, prompting World Rugby to open an investigation.
However, amid the ongoing investigation, the South African stars have made light of the situation during a recent lineout practice.
It comes after a video posted by South African journalist Hendrik Cronjé showed Mbonambi running drills with Siya Kolisi and Deon Fourie.
Throughout the clip, as Mbonambi is throwing towards a target, an assistant coach can be heard repeatedly using an Afrikaans term, 'water kant'.
The term directly translates as 'which side', which could be relevant to the drill, however it's also similar to the alleged phrase that Mbonambi used against Curry.
In England's dramatic 15-16 loss to South Africa, Curry approached referee Ben O'Keeffe in the 28th minute of the match, and is heard to say over the ref mic: 'Sir, sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?'
O'Keeffe replied: 'Nothing, please.'
After the final whistle, there was a noticeable altercation between Curry and Mbonambi, who appeared to refuse to shake the England forward's hand and marched off down the tunnel.
Despite the ongoing investigation, both Curry and Mbonambi are expected to feature in their country's respective final matches of the tournament.
Curry will reunite with his fellow ‘Kamikaze Kid’ from the 2019 World Cup - for England's bronze final against Argentina on Friday night - as Sam Underhill will return to the England XV at openside.
In all, head coach Borthwick has made eight starting changes, with Marcus Smith restored at full-back after overcoming concussion, with Freddie Steward switching to the right wing, and Henry Arundell lining up on the opposite flank.
Meanwhile, Mbonambi is free to play for South Africa in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand despite the investigation hanging over him.
A statement released by World Rugby – the global governing body – said: 'World Rugby takes allegations of discriminatory behavior extremely seriously.
'We can confirm that we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England's Tom Curry about the use of discriminatory language during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday.
'World Rugby will not be making any further comment until the conclusion of the process.'
Mail Sport understands that the RFU complained to the tournament authorities, about the alleged outburst by Mbonambi.