RWC 2023
World Rugby to investigate racial slur allegations against Bok hooker Bongi Mbonambi
A probe will investigate allegations that Bongi Mbonambi directed a racial slur to England flank Tom Curry.
The Springboks face a significant distraction in their build-up to the final of Rugby World Cup 2023 against New Zealand.
World Rugby confirmed it was investigating the alleged use of “discriminatory language” by hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
England flank Tom Curry accused Mbonambi of racially slurring him during a tight Rugby World Cup semifinal clash on Saturday, which South Africa won 16-15.
During the game, around the 23rd minute, Curry is heard on the ref mic asking New Zealand official Ben O’Keeffe: “Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?
O’Keeffe replied: “Nothing, please. I’ll be on it.”
The England team, via the Rugby Football Union, appears to have lodged a formal complaint during the 24-hour citing window they had after the game.
World Rugby will now continue to investigate the matter.
“World Rugby takes all allegations of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously,” it said in a statement.
“We can confirm that we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England’s Tom Curry in relation to 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 further comment until the conclusion of the process.”
Tom Curry of England during the Rugby World Cup 2023 semi final match between England and South Africa at Stade de France on 21 October 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
No denial
The Springboks remain mum on the allegation and there has been no denial from Mbonambi.
Springbok management issued a one-paragraph statement after the accusations emerged.
“We are aware of the allegation, which we take very seriously, and are reviewing the available evidence. We will engage with Bongi if anything is found to substantiate the claim.”
There is no audio, at least in the public domain, which picks up Mbonambi’s alleged remark in a match that had a few flare-ups.
England centre Manu Tuilagi grabbed Bok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach by the throat after the whistle had gone during the first half and earned his team a penalty.
Willie le Roux and England skipper Owen Farrell also had an altercation immediately after the final whistle. When asked about it afterwards Farrell said: “It was nothing, it was a misunderstanding”.
What exactly transpired between Mbonambi and Curry, or what could’ve led to the alleged exchange, is also unclear. Considering the Afrikaans word for “side” is “kant”, which sounds exactly like the offensive word used there are many possible plausible explanations.
Bongi Mbonambi of South Africa during the Rugby World Cup 2023 semi final match between England and South Africa at Stade de France on 21 October 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
In the mixed zone after the match, Curry declined to elaborate when asked about his comment to O’Keeffe. He confirmed Mbonambi made a remark he shouldn’t have and added: “It does not need to be talked about”.
If World Rugby finds grounds to take disciplinary action against Mbonambi he could be suspended under law 9.12 which states a player must not verbally abuse anyone. World Rugby regulations prohibit abuse based on, but not limited to “religion, colour, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation”.
There is precedent for this type of offence.
In 2016, England prop Joe Marler (who played against the Boks on Saturday) was given a two-game ban and fined £20,000 (R460,000) for calling Wales prop Samson Lee “gypsy boy”.
Mbonambi is the only recognised hooker in the Bok squad and has also been skipper on the field when captain Siya Kolisi goes off. DM
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In the interests of objectivity at this time I certainly hope any New Zealand representation will recuse themselves…
Yes I’m a white guy, but don’t you dare say it!
I’m black and proud of it! How dare you mention the B word!
So funny …and so tragic.
…and then there’s the complete disregard for the word “kant” (sic), a word which is wildly disrespectful to 50% of the people on this planet.
Are we truly this stupid as a species?
I TRUST WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE WILL CONSIDER THE STANDING AND REPUTATION OF THE MAN. REALLY CANNOT IMAGINE HIM BEING OBSCENELY ABUSIVE!
agree totally..Curry is just Sour Grapes
There is a more apt name that most SA players would use, actually few would use the more english version. It’s less expressive.
It may also be possible that there has been a translation issue. It’s obviously the white piece that reverberates and not the insult.
Few would care about this but in our attempt to be consistent we need to react if the crime was committed. Even fewer Saffers would disagree with BNs take.
Let’s hope it will all go away without there being an international incident and that there was actually a translation issue.
We don’t have Malcolm with a miraculous recovery to fill his shoes.
Bongi should apologize for calling Curry white. That was totally uncalled for and dehumanises Curry in the worst possible way.
If you look at Curry’s background over the years he is already dehumanized. Much the same goes for the whole English team who are a group of whingers whenever they lose. On the odd occasion they win anyone would think they are the world champions judging by their performance. As a citizen of Ireland I can attest that this type of behavior goes back to the days of Oliver Cromwell the most hated man in Ireland over centuries.
I do not believe that Mbonambi would use a racial slur. The second word is an accurate description of Tom Curry.
Brilliant!!!ha ha ha,aptly put
Curry is a idealist philosopher? Wouldn’t have thought it looking at him. Looks, sounds and behaves more like a f
if there is no audio that substantiates Tom Curry’s claim of racist language, then it is word against word – and another case of English sour grapes…
Real dilemma here when you’ve only got one sided version and language issues. Not to mention that Mr Curry’s ear in the photo looks somewhat damaged!
Mr Curry’s ear is not damaged. It is deformed. Case closed.
so is his nose….
Well, Curry did play in a white jersey……
How this matter is managed properly it will either clear it up as a word-set that went wrong, or as a cover-up.
If the former, no damage to anyone.
If the latter, the consequences are enormous – way beyond a R500k fine.
The very foundation of the ethos and culture of the Springbok team and what we outsiders are sold is down the drain.
If the pressure on people in a rugby game brings out the worst of them, their default setting that “the other” is despicable because of their race, then the multi-racial project is dead.
These people (the team) live with each other, play for each other, need each other. If they cannot get it right, what does it say about the rest of us.
I hope, I hope that the answer is truthful and credible. If not credible, we shall assume the alternative is then the case…
That will be a sad day (for me).
Colin, I hope you will hold everyone to this same standard? It would appear from your comment that the Springboks somehow have a higher standard to which they should be measured? Given our background and the many objective instances of systemic issues that people like BM have had to overcome, plus the prevalence of ‘slagging’ in most international sport, I find it somewhat ironic that an accusation of this nature can have this much impact.
The people complaining should look at what the Oz cricketers to to opposing batsmen! The story goes that only Jacque Kallis was immune to this “sledging”
Bongi scrums down most of every game between two whites and with two whites each side of his rear being shouted at by two white coaches. This entire curry side-show is absurd, but perhaps in light of Farrell’s theatrics all 80 minutes plus two minutes afterward, is why England will not win a RWC in next twenty years.
“ All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwittingly to school.” With apologies to Ms Anderson my high school English teacher.
England has many stages to go to grow a spine.
Curry wanted to be in the news…lol…now he is and will be discredited…lol
That’s a bit of a heavy burden for one man to carry about on a rugby field. I think we can all lighten up a little. There are, as my grandmother used to say to me, ‘worse things happening at sea.’
Certainly worse than someone referring to another person’s race in a disparaging way (if that is what Bongi did).
If we take on in that kind of trembling attitude, the difficulties that South Africans face are sure to overwhelm us.
This was all started by the English media. What is said on the field must stay on the field. Whiny cry-baby syndrome!
I most certainly would question the ability of those ears to hear anything at all, let alone something said by a man who can speak several langauges, most of which would be totally foreign to Curry’s ear. Did he play soccer before?
White guys don’t usually worry or even think about this sort of thing. It shouldn’t worry any of us, no matter who we are or what colour we are. If that’s the case, this sort of thing just fades from all of our minds.
OMG, to think that some in the English rugby fraternity have become so WOKE that they go and tattle about remarks made in the heat of the moment by another player, in this case Bongi Mbonambi.
I am sure that Tom Curry has used such words in the past, and on many occasions. Is it just the fact that it had the adjective “white” attached to it? Is this not in itself inverted racism because a person of a darker complexion than he, used the expression on him; while if it was one of his colleagues, he would have shrugged it off? Tom, go and have a beer with Bongi, and grow up a bit. Cowboys don’t cry.
curry forget that Bongi plays rugby with a lot of Whites, his complans is totally irrational and absurd… he must grow up
This Vindaloo is both hot and cold. Not for consumption at any time. The one consistency he provides is what we know already – White Shirts will complain in search of a technical advantage no matter what.
Just playing devil’s advocate here : What if the shoe was on the other foot and Curry had directed the same (using ‘black’ instead of ‘white’) slur at Bongi? How would that have played out?
It would have been squashed. Poms have always rated themselves above us in every walk of life. Bad losers. And now we have to play against a Pom ref as well!!!
lets hope we don’t have to lay against NZ and the ref as we had to paly England and the ref, was watching Superugby last night and they pointed out a lot of things that we were penalised for that we were not suppose to be…WELL DONE BOKS WE WON THE REF AND ENGLAND
In Shout Africa we have a language called afrikaans. The same language the Spring bols ise when playing, to avoid letting the opposite team know what they planning. So the words the English are saying bongi said could be miss read because when they heard ( if true) “white c*t” it actually could have been ” white kant” which means “white side” in english so when they were in the scrum and bongi said ( if true) white kant he was actually notifying hes team the ball was on whites side so to sum it up
Afrikaans (white kant)
English (white side)
Not much point speculating before evidence (if any) is produced. Let’s hope we have legal Counsel on standby in the event of a disciplinary hearing and, if the decision goes against BM, is there any possibility of lodging an immediate appeal with CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) in Lausanne to delay possible suspension of BM until after the RWC final ? Counsel succeeded in getting Schalk Burger off the hook for playing an opponent in the air during RWC 2007.
Tim Kerrie seems to be sour (“geel water”) for being incapable of understanding a single woord van Afrikaans. It rather seem as an attempt to get revenge on South Africa from keeping the WC from England on 3 different attempts. Word groot Tim, groei ‘n paar kahoonas, en leer om ‘n pakslae soos ‘n MAN te vat
Seems like a case of very sore losers. Well done SPRINGBOKS . Your nation is proud of you!! Just remember, in the heat of the game it is the Queens english please ……. no Afrikaans……
What a ninny, and wuss! Curry complaining about swear words in a rugby match, complaining about racism to the ref during the game – what was he looking for, a yellow card and penalty? He is an embarrassment to the game of rugby.
An RWC investigation on the word of Curry? Ridiculous. Send him a bra and panty for Christmas.
So you can run full tilt into each other, often causing serious bodily harm (players have died on the field, for the love of God), but you can’t say mean words to each other …!!! WTF!
What has happened to that old rhyme ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me’?
Curry is behaving like a lily livered little willy.
Really England. Accept your last minute loss and get on with preparing for the next RWC.
(And here’s a bit of free advice as a starting point, replace your captain. Replace him with someone who has a cooler head. When your captain starts grabbing the opposition by the collar like some 4th grader, you’ve really got to wonder if you’ve got the right guy in the job, and you haven’t. Brilliant fly-half, but he’s not a captain.)
I’ve overheard Bongi on the occasions he was the skipper and remarked that he treats everyone with the utmost respect. I doubt that this accusation has merit and might be a ploy to weaken our team’s chances to play with a recognised hooker on Saturday.
agree totally….but this happened in the first half?
This sounds like English mischief and should be dismissed with consequences to Curry. Sue him after the finding of not guilty.
Owen Farrell is a brilliant fly half. His tactical kicking, touch and goal kicks are sublime. However he is also a serial illegal tackle offender. His petulance in holding on to the ball after the Boks had been awarded a penalty allowed a successful 3-pointer from a spot 10m advanced. He also fouled de Allende in the 34th minute. If this had been picked up a yellow card woiuld have resulted. Is this hothead really the right man for the England captaincy job? Methinks not.
Agree..I think Farrell is a very good player and Actor…but he makes a lot of illegal things, like bringing up his knee when he was on the ground so we had to basically jump over his knee, which the refs just doesn’t want to notice…its these things that needs to be pointed out, it time that refs get red cards as well.
Agree..I think Farrell is a very good player and Actor…but he makes a lot of illegal things, like bringing up his knee when he was on the ground so we had to basically jump over his knee, which the refs just doesn’t want to notice…its these things that needs to be pointed out, it time that refs get red cards as well.
Must be the first time in recorded history that a white man has accused a black man of racism. Hopefully the balance is shifting in favour of moderation.
As long as they also investigate the blatant foul play by English players as clearly seen on TV and ignored by the TV referee!!! Maybe Bongi simply reacted to foul play he witnessed?
This is such a nonsense, really!
Ek weet op wie se KANT ek is … my hart is GROEN.
That is hilarious – go Bongi – we are all behind you!