Bongi Mbonambi has leveled accusations of “unprofessional behavior” against England, claiming that the South African hooker directed a racial slur at Tom Curry.
The alleged incident took place during the Springboks’ narrow 16-15 victory over England in the Rugby World Cup semi-final held in France on October 21.
World Rugby conducted a thorough review, examining video and audio recordings as well as submissions from both teams.
Following this investigation, Mbonambi was cleared to participate in the final match against New Zealand. World Rugby determined that there was “insufficient evidence” to support the claim that he had used the alleged term.
“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,” Mbonambi told BBC Sport Africa.
“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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