Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Photo: SA Rugby website.
Bongi Mbonambi opens up on ‘wit kant’ saga
Bongi Mbonambi has hit out at England for their ‘unprofessional’ conduct after making racial allegations against the Bok hooker.
Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Photo: SA Rugby website.
One of the major talking points prior to the Rugby World Cup final revolved around the ‘racial saga’ that exploded after the semi-finals when England flank Tom Curry accused Mbonambi of calling him a “wit kant”.
Ultimately, an investigation from World Rugby found there was no evidence of such an incident.
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The Springbok forward has now told BBC Sport Africa that it was clearly a misunderstanding, and that England should have acted differently.
“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,” the Springbok said.
“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.”
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As part of the Springboks’ World Cup celebrations, they kicked off their Mother City trophy tour leg by making a stop at the City Hall, where City of Cape Town Mayor Mayor Hill-Lewis then gifted Bongi Mbonambi a T-Shirt with the word “wenkant” on the front, which means winning side when translated to English.
Although South Africans might have seen the lighter side of the matter when Bongi was gifted the ‘wenkant’ T-shirt, the English press again took exception to it, with a host of articles – as highlighted below – suggesting it was making a mockery of the matter.
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You can see the reaction to Bongi Mbonambi’s ‘wen kant’ T-shirt below:
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DOES TOM CURRY OWE SPRINGBOK HOOKER AN APOLOGY?
Meanwhile, France captain Antoine Dupont said he believes that Tom Curry owes Bongi Mbonambi an apology.
“I knew this was the case all along. Bongi is a great guy. I really think an apology should be given over this,” Dupont wrote in an Instagram comment.
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