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South Africa statement: Springboks investigating Mbonambi's alleged racist abuse of England’s Curry
By PA
South Africa have begun investigating an alleged racist slur directed at England flanker Tom Curry by their hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi.
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England have until Monday morning to lodge a complaint with the citing officer after Curry claimed he had been the victim of a discriminatory remark in Saturday’s 16-15 World Cup semi-final defeat by the Springboks.
Curry drew the incident to the attention of referee Ben O’Keeffe in the second quarter of the match at the Stade de France.
Although the alleged slur is not audible on the ref mic, Curry’s subsequent conversation with O’Keeffe is.
“Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c*** what do I do?” the Sale flanker said.
O’Keeffe replied: “Nothing, please. I’ll be on it.”
South Africa on Sunday responded by confirming they are looking into the incident.
“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,” an SA Rugby statement read.
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When asked after the match if Mbonambi had said something he should not have done, Curry replied “yeah”, although he declined to reveal the content of the remark.
Mbonambi, who took over as captain once Siya Kolisi had been replaced, refused to shake Curry’s hand at the end of a dramatic clash in Paris that was won by Handre Pollard’s penalty after 78 minutes.
World Rugby confirmed there is a 36-hour window from when the game ends for England to lodge a complaint to the citing officer, giving them until 10am BST on Monday to act.
The sport’s global governing body can also choose to pursue the matter, with any case likely to be brought under the ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ banner.
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Also, if the citing officer finds any evidence of the alleged racist remark, disciplinary proceedings can be triggered against Mbonambi, with an offence such as this likely to contravene law 9.12 – a player must not verbally abuse anyone.
England led for all but five minutes of the semi-final and were nine points ahead until RG Snyman went over in the 70th minute at a time when the Springboks’ scrum was taking control through the introduction of the ‘Bomb Squad’.
Jonny May said England’s heroic effort against the world champions was fuelled by the belief that they had been dismissed as a serious threat by South Africa.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t think necessarily the South Africans respect us,” May said.
“Some of the things their coach has openly said about us in their documentaries and stuff probably just adds fuel to the fire.
“We touched on their documentary and we’ve got staff who were with them and they gave us insight of how they feel about us.”
Guys, I find this whole accusation amazing. Coming from a private school English lad like Curry accusing Bongi, a black South African brought up in our country, of saying something racist and by implication racist. This from someone brought up in England who for centuries have done structured racism and treated many people terribly for centuries. This is hilarious. What about the many times the English have used the term Dutchmen when referring to the white South African population. Crazy.
Very strange that the moms have all this sensitivity as c$%nt is one of the most commonly used words in the UK especially England, and oh they love referring to people as foreign c%$nts and a whole myriad. Curry has a record for foul play and the only way that goes away is when he diverts attention, if Bongi is cleared what is the sanction on Curry?
Don’t see the problem. Mbonambi had a good weekend apart from a dodgy curry on Saturday night. Happens…
Old joke, man says “that’s a nice bolour yellow”
Second man “Don’t you mean colour”
“It’s what I said, I just ban’t say the “b” “
“Well try say the word using the letter k”
“Kolour! what a clever idea and what a silly bunt I am”
So, when o’ Mahoney sledges people it’s just ‘banter’. It’s well documented that Retallick called o’ Mahoney a fuckwit after their QF. No issues guys, it’s just banter. But if a black South African dare do something like that (still, just rumours, no evidence as yet) then there is complete outrage…
it was probably appropriate
Biggest issue here is he alleged to have said it. There is no proof at the moment and a person is innocent till PROVEN guilt. That is the society we live in.
Who is to say that Curry was not trying to get him into trouble or mis heard what was actually said?
With no proof, this should be swept aside and Bongi’s name should be out of the headlines. What’s also telling is it’s Monday morning and there has been no official complaint from England. IF Curry really believes what was said and felt so offended, then surely he/Engalnd would have launched an official complaint already.
People really need to not get emotional about these things before there is actual evidence.
Finally, Bongi has lived in a society where there has actually been racism for many years. He knows it. He has never been accused of it before and has no record. Personally, I doubt he said what is ALLEGED to have been said.
Miskien moet jy bietjie van daardie wit lees, Kant?
And thats why SA and NZ is on top. While some Northern Hemisphere players like snowflake “Curry” thin skin get pierced by words. In the South things like that is like water on a ducks back. We get raised to be mentally strong. And that is the difference to why the South does better.