{"id":296362,"date":"2023-11-03T13:09:46","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T13:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=296362"},"modified":"2023-11-03T13:09:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T13:09:46","slug":"englands-tom-curry-mocked-in-south-africa-as-bongi-mbonambi-receives-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/rugby-league\/englands-tom-curry-mocked-in-south-africa-as-bongi-mbonambi-receives-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"England’s Tom Curry mocked in South Africa as Bongi Mbonambi receives ‘gift’"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa win the 2023 Rugby World Cup<\/h3>\n

Bongi Mbonambi has reportedly been gifted a commemorative South Africa jersey by the mayor of Cape Town, adorned with a message which rugby fans seem to think makes light of the racism row that involved Tom Curry. The England star alerted the referee to what he believed was a racial slur directed his way from Mbonambi during the Rugby World Cup semi-finals, although the Springboks man was subsequently cleared.<\/p>\n

Mbonambi was a key man for the Springboks as they went all the way in France, notching back-to-back World Cup triumphs and their fourth in total. They cut it fine from the quarter-finals onwards, registering single-point victories over France, England and New Zealand to take the trophy.<\/p>\n

During the match with England, Curry approached referee Ben O’Keeffe and said: “Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?” An investigation followed, but Mbonambi was ultimately cleared by World Rugby due to ‘insufficient evidence’ substantiating Curry’s claims.<\/p>\n

Many South Africa supporters were adamant that, instead of the slur Curry thought he heard, Mbonambi had actually said ‘wit kant’, which means ‘white side’ in Afrikaans.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong> England star Owen Farrell labelled ‘underappreciated’ after World Cup heroics<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Rugby chiefs evidently felt that the explanation was a plausible one, given that England contested their semi-finals wearing white shirts. Mbonambi went on to play in the final and help the Springboks to a marginal win over the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

With the dust finally settling on the saga, Mbonambi has been pictured with a South Africa jersey sporting the word ‘WENKANT’ which, according to SA Rugby magazine, was presented to him as a gift from Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.<\/p>\n