{"id":297124,"date":"2023-10-25T13:24:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T13:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=297124"},"modified":"2023-10-25T13:24:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T13:24:19","slug":"bongi-mbonambi-is-free-to-play-in-the-rugby-world-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/bongi-mbonambi-is-free-to-play-in-the-rugby-world-cup-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Bongi Mbonambi is FREE to play in the Rugby World Cup final"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Bongi Mbonambi is FREE to play in the Rugby World Cup final, despite &#8216;white ****&#8217; racial slur investigation hanging over him&#8230; with no decision expected until after Saturday&#8217;s match<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bongi Mbonambi is expected to play for South Africa in the World Cup final<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>World Rugby&#8217;s investigation is only expected to conclude after the tournament<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Tom Curry accused the Springboks hooker of calling him a &#8216;white c***&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bongi Mbonambi is free to play for South Africa in Saturday&#8217;s Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand despite a World Rugby investigation hanging over him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Springboks hooker is expected to feature after Tom Curry accused him of a racial slur\u00a0during South Africa&#8217;s 16-15 win over England in the semi-finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Curry alleged that Mbonambi called him a &#8216;white c***&#8217; but no decision from World Rugby is expected until after rugby&#8217;s showpiece event.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The England flanker has received a storm of online abuse since making the allegation, including death threats, and Sale Sharks have condemned the &#8216;disgusting&#8217; comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They wrote on X, formerly Twitter: &#8216;Sale Sharks&#8217; owners, players, coaches and staff are absolutely appalled by the nature and level of disgusting abuse directed at Tom Curry and his family in relation to an incident in the England v South Africa World Cup semi-final.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/13\/76982325-0-image-a-6_1698235520542.jpg\" height=\"415\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Bongi Mbonambi is free to play in Saturday&#8217;s Rugby World Cup final despite Tom Curry&#8217;s accusation\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/13\/76981163-0-image-a-7_1698235549846.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Curry alleged that Mbonambi called him a &#8216;white c***&#8217; in the World Cup semi-final and World Rugby are investigating<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Everyone at the club stands fully and proudly behind Tom and we look forward to welcoming him back to Carrington.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Some South African fans claimed that Mbonambi could have been speaking Africaans.<\/p>\n<p>The Springboks often speak Afrikaans to hide their plans from opponents.<\/p>\n<p>Their fans suggest the hooker may have been saying &#8216;wit kant&#8217; &#8211; which translates to &#8216;white side&#8217; &#8211; indicating the colour England were playing in on the day.<\/p>\n<p>In England&#8217;s dramatic 15-16 loss to South Africa, Curry approached referee Ben O&#8217;Keeffe in the 28th minute of the match, and is heard to say over the ref mic: &#8216;Sir, sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Keeffe replied: &#8216;Nothing, please.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>After the final whistle, there was a noticeable altercation between Curry and Mbonambi, who appeared to refuse to shake the England forward&#8217;s hand and marched off down the tunnel.<\/p>\n<p>It was confirmed on Monday that the English Rugby Football Union had lodged an official complaint about the incident, prompting World Rugby to open an investigation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/13\/76927753-12670857-The_flanker_asked_referee_Ben_O_Keeffe_When_their_hooker_calls_m-a-18_1698236598072.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The flanker asked referee Ben O&#8217;Keeffe: &#8216;When their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/13\/76890775-12670857-Supporters_suggested_he_was_saying_wit_kant_which_translates_in_-a-20_1698236615287.jpg\" height=\"227\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Supporters suggested he was saying &#8216;wit kant&#8217;, which translates in Afrikaans as &#8216;white side&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/13\/76927751-12670857-England_s_Tom_Curry_pictured_next_to_South_Africa_s_Bongi_Mbonam-a-21_1698236641240.jpg\" height=\"511\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mbonambi played the full 80 minutes for the Springboks in their semi-final victory\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A statement released by World Rugby \u2013 the global governing body \u2013 said: &#8216;World Rugby takes allegations of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We can confirm that we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England&#8217;s Tom Curry in relation to the use of discriminatory language during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;World Rugby will not be making any further comment until the conclusion of the process.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Mail Sport understands that the RFU lodged a complaint with the tournament authorities, in relation to the alleged outburst by Mbonambi.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12670857\/Bongi-Mbonambi-FREE-play-Rugby-World-Cup-final-despite-white-racial-slur-investigation-hanging-no-decision-expected-Saturdays-match.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bongi Mbonambi is FREE to play in the Rugby World Cup final, despite &#8216;white ****&#8217; racial slur investigation hanging over <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bongi Mbonambi is FREE to play in the Rugby World Cup final - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/bongi-mbonambi-is-free-to-play-in-the-rugby-world-cup-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bongi Mbonambi is FREE to play in the Rugby World Cup final - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bongi Mbonambi is FREE to play in the Rugby World Cup final, despite &#8216;white ****&#8217; 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