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from South Africa training has caused a stir ahead of Saturday’s World Cup final, with some national media reports suggesting the Springboks were making light of the racism allegations against hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
Footage from the session showed Mbonambi laughing and joking with team-mates before practising a series of lineout throws. Throughout the drill, a coach can be heard repeatedly shouting ‘watter kant’ – an Afrikaans term for “which side”
Curry has alleged that Mbonambi called him a ‘white c***’ during the first half of South Africa’s 16-15 semi-final win last weekend. Since then, a number of South Africans have suggested Curry misunderstood and claimed Mbonambi was actually shouting something along the lines of “wit kant”, which means “white side”. It is suggested this is part of the Springboks’ defensive calling system.
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In contrast to this, English newspaper reports have claimed Curry’s complaint centres around a more personal altercation that was not picked up by the referee’s microphone during the match. Get the latest World Cup news by signing up to our newsletter here.
It is unclear if the new footage, posted by a South African journalist allowed into training, was a clear reference to the ongoing furore, but the ‘Boks have used public videos previously to make points after controversial incidents.
In 2018, after Owen Farrell was escaped a sending off for a tackle on Andre Esterhuizen, director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was filmed sarcastically showing Harlequins centre how to tackle high.
Erasmus directed the player towards the top of a tackle bag as he repeated the drill, shaking his head whenever he tackled legally, before eventually applauding as Esterhuizen tackled “high” at the top of the bag.
Mbonambi is set to start the Rugby World Cup final because World Rugby’s ongoing investigation will not be completed before the weekend….
