South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi calls England ‘unprofessional’ for Rugby World Cup racist allegation

South Africa's Bongi Mbonambi (left) and England's Tom Curry during their Rugby World Cup semifinal match. Photo / Getty Images

South Africa’s Rugby World Cup-winning hooker Bongi Mbonambi has opened up on the racial allegations made by England during the tournament, calling the misunderstanding “very sad”.

Mbonambi was cleared by World Rugby of racist language towards Tom Curry during the World Cup semifinal.

The investigation found Curry made the allegation that Mbonambi called him a “white c***” in “good faith” and there was no suggestion this was “deliberately false or malicious”.

Speaking to the BBC, Mbonambi says the misunderstanding is “very sad” because he was speaking Afrikaans.

Mbonambi started in the Springboks’ 12-11 final win over the All Blacks but went off injured in just the fourth minute after suffering a knee injury in a clean out by Shannon Frizell that led to a yellow card.

“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 Africa.

“It was unprofessional on their part. They could have gone on a website and looked for an English dictionary and looked for the word in Afrikaans.

“People understood [in South Africa] but obviously, their side was misunderstood.”

Having undertaken a detailed review of all available evidence, including audio and video footage of the match, and taking submissions from both teams, the World Rugby investigation concluded there was not enough evidence to warrant disciplinary proceedings against Mbonambi.

World Rugby also noted with concern the level of abuse Mbonambi and Curry received in the wake of the allegations, which first came to light on referee Ben O’Keefe’s microphone.

In a statement, World Rugby said: “World Rugby has undertaken a review of allegations made by England’s Tom Curry in relation to the use of discriminatory language by South Africa’s Mbongeni Mbonambi during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semifinal on Saturday, along with a further allegation brought forward in recent days about a previous match in the Autumn Nations Series 2022.

“Any allegation of discrimination is taken extremely seriously by World Rugby, warranting a thorough investigation. Having considered all the available evidence, including match footage, audio and evidence from both teams, the governing body has determined that there is insufficient evidence at this time to proceed with charges. Therefore, the matter is deemed closed unless additional evidence comes to light.

“It is important to note that World Rugby accepts that Tom Curry made the allegations in good faith, and that there is no suggestion that the allegation was deliberately false or malicious.

“World Rugby is also concerned by the social media abuse that both players have been subjected to this week. There is no place in rugby or society for discrimination, abuse or hate speech, and World Rugby urges fans to embrace the sport’s values of respect, integrity and solidarity.”