The Springboks player Bongi Mbonambi was accused of using a racist slur against an England opponent during their Rugby World Cup semifinal in France. On Tuesday, South Africa’s minister of sports defended Mbonambi.
Tom Curry, a white player from England, made the accusation against Mbonambi, a Black man, and World Rugby is looking into it. If Mbonambi is found guilty of wrongdoing, his ability to play against New Zealand in the World Cup final on Saturday may be called into question.
“We are Bongi Mbonambi. South African Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa posted on social media, saying, “We support you, Bongi.”
Curry can be heard in the first half of the game asking referee Ben O’Keeffe what he should do if he is being harassed by an opponent, even though it’s unclear when Mbonambi is supposed to have made the comment.
In answer, O’Keeffe responded, “Nothing, please.” “I´ll be on it.”
With a last-minute penalty kick, South Africa won the match 16–15.
Although South Africa scrum coach Daan Human was questioned about the accusation against Mbonambi and how it was impacting his team’s preparations for the World Cup final at a press conference on Monday, Mbonambi and the Springboks have not publicly addressed the matter.
“I haven’t talked about that (with Mbonambi),” stated Human. To put it plainly and honestly, though, he’s a cool man. We have a World Cup final in six days, so I don’t want to get into that right now, but he speaks clearly.”
Certain media outlets in South Africa have asserted that the entire incident could have been mistranslated, and that Mbonambi might have been yelling a term in the Afrikaans language that sounds similar to the expletives Curry accused him of saying in English but actually means something else.
According to the accounts, Mbonambi was yelling the Afrikaans term “side” to his colleagues to alert them to the location of the ball and the England assault target.
World Rugby stated on Tuesday that it cannot comment until the disciplinary matter is resolved since it is under pressure to finish it properly in front of the championship.
Malcolm Marx was forced to return home in the pool stages due to a knee injury, leaving Mbonambi as the sole specialist hooker in the Springboks lineup. Since Marx left, South Africa has utilized flankers Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden as backup hookers.
In addition, Mbonambi frequently assumes captaincy for the Springboks when Siya Kolisi is substituted late in games, like he did in the semifinal matchup with England.
Leave a Reply