England’s Tom Curry accuses South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi of racial slur – and he could be BANNED for World Cup final
ENGLAND star Tom Curry accused South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi of calling him a “white c***” in a staggering World Cup race row.
And World Rugby chiefs are now under pressure to BAN the Springbok hooker from next week’s showpiece final showdown with New Zealand.
Seething Curry made the allegations directly to referee Ben O’Keeffe just before half-time in Saturday’s heartbreaking 16-15 semi-final defeat.
In the conversation, picked up by the “ref link” microphone, the Sale flanker went up to the official and said: “Sir, Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c*** what can I do?”
O’Keeffe responded: “Nothing please. I’ll be on it.”
Curry was furious, demanding action against the South African powerhouse, who played the whole 80 minutes as the defending champions stole victory at the death.
The back row star was still seething after the match, although he opted not to make a public denunciation of the South African.
Mbonambi refused to shake Curry’s hand at the final whistle in a blatant snub.
Asked if the South African had “said something he shouldn’t have”, a terse Curry replied: “Yeah.”
Probed on whether he would say what he had heard, Curry added: “No.”
“It wasn’t cleared up. It doesn’t need to be talked about.
“Listen, I’m not talking about it now.”
Curry’s demeanour, though, gave the game away.
Skipper Owen Farrell had earlier dismissed his post-whistle spat with Willie Le Roux as “nothing – it was just a misunderstanding”.
It has since emerged that a potential defence could be that Curry misunderstood a comment made by Mbonambi in Afrikaans.
He could have used the term “wit kant” – meaning “white side” in Afrikaans – to tell team-mates that the ball was on the English side of the ruck.
Under World Rugby regulations, the RFU had a 24-hour window to refer the incident to the match citing commissioner, who in turn would have until lunchtime on Monday to assess the evidence before making a decision.
World Rugby declined to make any comment until that citing window closes but the regulations state any abuse based on “religion, colour, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation” is prohibited.
That increases the pressure for action, with South Africa braced for a ban – which would force them to call up a hooker from outside their current 33-man squad.
In a statement, SA Rugby said: “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.”
England coach Steve Borthwick declined to comment “on anything regarding that incident” although, asked about the behaviour of the winners, he pointedly said: “They will handle themselves as they decide to handle themselves.”
Quizzed about the “bad blood” between the sides, South African lock Franco Mostert replied: “It’s always in the heat of the game.
“If you say something you don’t need it. For us it’s never nice but it’s a rugby game.”