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Springboks camp 'not aware' of any Mbonambi comment
By Ian Cameron
The Springboks camp has denied knowledge of 'any comment' made by Bongi Mbonambi towards England flanker Tom Curry.
Curry accused the South African hooker of calling him a 'white ****' during the Springboks' 16-15 win in the Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris last night.
Curry approached referee Ben O'Keeffe regarding the alleged slur and the exchange was picked up on the match-day ref mic and is being reported on.
Assistant coach Deon Davids has denied knowledge of the incident when quizzed by reporters this Sunday.
"I am not aware of any comment, it was never discussed. I don't know," said Davids.
Mbonambi refused to shake Curry's hand after the match before storming off towards the changing room.
Curry refused to elaborate following the match on what was said, saying: “Yeah… No, it doesn’t need to be talked about. Listen, I’m not talking about it now.”
There is some evidence of bad blood between the pair, with both Curry and Mbonambi clashing in last year's Autumn Nations Series fixture between the two sides, with the pair tussling and exchanging words. Whether that incident had anything to do with yesterday's unpleasantries is anyone's guess.
Neither World Rugby, England nor the Springboks camp have as yet released an official statement on the matter. England have until Monday morning to make a complaint, although an independent citing commissioner could also make a complaint if there is any evidence that Mbonambi has a case to answer.
South Africa will return to the Stade de France to face New Zealand in the final on October 28th and could be forced to start back row Deon Fourie, who is not a specialist hooker.
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I reckon it may be Jordan at 10 and Nohamba at 9, both players have played together alot and both have been on the Radar for a long time. After Pollard got injured in 2022 with Elton sidelined on a path of self destruction Erasmus and Nienaber indicated that the other options in the country at the time were thin but that Jordan and Manie were the 2 they were looking at. In the end Frans steyn played flyhalf, Willemse slotted in there on the end of year with Libbok as back up. Jordan was right there in the thinking back then so expect him to take the Jersey either as the starter.
Go to commentsHaha did he also* say it in a sarcastic teacher sort of manor or was it the petulant English snob sort of wail?
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