Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi suggested that the Tom Curry incident was a case of ‘lost in translation’, although he did not confirm what he said to the England flank.
Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi broke his silence over the racial slur accusations levelled at him during Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2023, accusing England of being “unprofessional”.
In the aftermath of South Africa’s 16-15 RWC 2023 semifinal win over England, it emerged that flank Tom Curry reported to referee Ben O’Keeffe that Mbonambi had allegedly called him a “white c**t”.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU), the sport’s governing body in England, lodged a complaint with World Rugby to have the matter dealt with “urgently”.
World Rugby launched an investigation and, 48 hours before the final of RWC 2023 between South Africa and New Zealand, confirmed that there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue a case of the alleged use of “discriminatory language”.
The Springboks went on to win RWC 2023 by beating the All Blacks 12-11 in the final at Stade de France on 28 October.
Speaking to BBC Sport Africa, Mbonambi did not confirm what he had said to Curry, but he implied it was lost in translation.
“I think it is a very sad thing when you live in a First World country [England], you think the rest of the world speaks English,” Mbonambi told BBC Sport…
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