The All Blacks have begun preparations in Paris for the Rugby World Cup final while their South African opponents juggle drama concerning an alleged slur made by star hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Video / NZ Herald
OPINION
Gregor Paul in Paris
The last thing World Rugby wanted ahead of its dream final was a race-related scandal, while the last thing South Africa needed was for it to involve the one and only specialist hooker in their squad.
In a quite extraordinary twist of fate,two words allegedly spoken by Springboks hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi at England flanker Tom Curry during their semifinal clash are threatening to thrust rugby back into a world it has long thought it had left behind and to leave South Africa rueing their high-risk decision to replace the injured Malcolm Marx with first five Handre Pollard earlier in the tournament.
The Boks, in a move that already defied convention, only named two specialist hookers in their initial 33-man squad for the World Cup.
When Marx damaged a knee during training after the Boks’ first game against Scotland, they doubled down on their strategy by bringing in Pollard - who had missed the initial selection because of injury - and opted to run with Mbonambi as their only specialist, with usual loose forwards Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden providing additional cover.
England's Tom Curry (right) and South Africa's Bongi Mbonambi (left) during the Rugby World Cup semifinal. Getty Images
It seemed an unnecessary risk to take, but the Boks do love loading their match-day bench with locks and loose forwards and so they were prepared to go with the makeshift, skeleton crew.
He’s also been their captain in the final 30 minutes of the past two games, taking over from Siya Kolisi who has been substituted.
But if it turns out that he did indeed make a racial slur against Curry, he’ll be facing a lengthy ban and South Africa the prospect of taking on the All Blacks with two loose forwards trying to muddle their way through 80 minutes at hooker.
It’s an almost preposterous scenario, one the Boks never imagined they could be facing or presumably they would never have taken the risk they did.
If Mbonambi had been injured against England and ruled out of the game, the Boks would be able to fly over a specialist hooker - but suspended players can’t be replaced and now South Africa’s coaching brains trust of Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus might be wishing they hadn’t tried to be too clever, because their ability to compete as they would like in this World Cup final now hinges entirely on the outcome of World Rugby’s investigation into the alleged incident.
In a short statement released shortly after midday French time, the governing body said: “World Rugby takes all allegations of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously.
“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 semifinal on Saturday.
“World Rugby will not be making further comment until the conclusion of the process.”
To some extent, the review is also going to challenge World Rugby, as while microphones clearly pick up Curry telling referee Ben O’Keeffe that he had been the victim of a racial slur, there is no audio, as yet, capturing the actual comment being made.
It’s also not known whether any of Curry’s teammates heard the alleged comment either, but Mbonambi refused to shake hands with the English flanker after the game, while a fracas involving several players broke out after the final whistle, with Owen Farrell and Willie le Roux at the centre of it.
And given what’s at stake here - not just in terms of the reputation of the tournament but the selection ramifications it will have for South Africa - before taking action, World Rugby will need to find irrefutable evidence that Mbonambi said what he is alleged to have said.
It’s an issue that the All Blacks are obviously tracking, without wanting to commit to any hard position.
World Rugby’s confirmation they were investigating the incident came just 20 minutes before All Blacks defence coach Scott McLeod fronted the media.
When he was asked whether it was something the All Blacks were following, he said: “No, we are not really following it as such.
“I learned about it this morning. It is something World Rugby will deal with, and I understand the process is ongoing.
“If anything came of that I imagine it would be a massive dent for them. He is a leader of their team and when Siya goes off, he becomes the captain so I imagine that would really impact them yeah.”
Whatever the outcome of the investigation, the incident will have inevitably sent an element of panic through the Boks’ management and coaching team, who will have been working through all sorts of contingency options.
Such a distraction in the week of the final is unwanted rather than disastrous, but a ban for Mbonambi may ultimately be considered catastrophic.
