Faf de Klerk has been accused of threatening to hack a South African police captain to death.
The Springbok scrum-half maintains that he was in Japan at the time of the alleged incident, and there is video footage of the 31-year-old training with his teammates in Tokyo that can be found online.
These videos show the date stamps ranging from the end of November to early this month
The allegations suggested that De Klerk, a World Cup-winning rugby player, racially abused and threatened to "kill" a police officer from Stellenbosch.
Captain Lesley Smith has accused De Klerk of wanting to use a panga to hack him to death and of using racial slurs, according to IOL.
According to his agent, Klerk has "never driven a Toyota Corolla in his life," and has been out of the country for the past two months. This statement was made in response to the allegations against De Klerk
He added: “He left the country with the Springboks for their end-of-year tour to Europe, where after he left London for Tokyo, Japan to join his new club, Yokohama Cannon Eagles.”
Four players Owen Farrell doesn’t like, including Faf de Klerk
England fly-half Owen Farrell is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two – especially when it’s about someone he doesn’t particularly like.
#1. Dave Attwood
Former England lock Attwood has opened up on the latest RugbyPass Offload about his ongoing rivalry with Owen Farrell.
He revealed: "On the pitch, I struggle a lot with Owen Farrell. We just don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things,
“He hates me with a passion. Despite my earthy roots, he thinks I am a posh c***. He hates that. I bagged rugby league once jovially. I was saying it to take the piss kind of thing, ‘a bloody sport for the peasants’. He f**kin’ hated it."
Dave Attwood facts:
He made 157 appearances in Blue, Black and White over an eight-year period during his first spell at Bath before returning in 2022
His debut came against Newcastle Falcons at the beginning of the 2011/12 season after arriving from Gloucester, scoring four tries in his first campaign
The lock quickly established himself as a key player in the Bath pack and excelled at international level too, with 22 of his 24 England caps coming whilst at the Re
The former England international has also played for Bristol (twice), Gloucester and Toulon during his established career
#2. Ryan Wilson
The Scotland back-rower was the instigator in some tunnel argy-bargy when the players returned to the changing rooms after the warm-up back in 2018 with Farrell at the centre.
Footage of the incident shows all hell breaking loose when Farrell barged his way past a number of Scotland players to confront Wilson, who had been attempting to get inside the head of George Ford.
Wilson later revealed he was banned from Twickenham following the incident.
“I remember that game, I was actually injured and after tunnel-gate, after everything that happened in the tunnel against England, I’d lined up a corporate gig at Twickenham,” he recalled to Rugby Pass in November.
“Had it all lined up, a little bit of cash, all excited, only to get a message back saying the RFU have banned you from Twickenham Stadium after everything that happened the year before.
#3. James Haskell
The pair have what we can only describe as a love-hate relationship. As legendary as the 'best mates' videos were during the 2016 tour of Australia, Farrell certainly didn't seem to be enjoying it.
James Haskell facts:
Haskell was born in Windsor, Berkshire, and first played for Maidenhead Rugby Club
He is the son of Jonathan and Susie Haskell. James also has one sibling, a younger brother named Edward
After retiring from rugby, Haskell signed to mixed martial arts promotion Bellator MMA as part of its Heavyweight division
His five yellow cards for England is more than any other player in history
The flanker has a digger driving licence. He's been obsessed with JCBs since he was a young child.
#4. Faf de Klerk
Farrell and De Klerk ended up at arm’s length from each other in 2018 during their summer tour just before the 20-minute mark and the rest of the two sides quickly joined in.
The pair have since clashes on multiple occasions, including during the World Cup final a year later. Klerk is clearly someone who gets under the England skippers skin and their appears to be little love lost between the pair.
Speaking about the pair, Tom Curry said they are 'very different characters'.
