World Rugby investigating alleged racist abuse by South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi

World Rugby have confirmed they are investigating the incident in which the England flanker Tom Curry alleged that he was racially slurred by the Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi during South Africa’s 16-15 semi-final win on Saturday night.

“World Rugby takes all allegations of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously,” the game’s governing body.

“We can confirm that we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England’s Tom Curry’s in relation to the use of discriminatory language during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday.

“World Rugby will not be making further comment until the conclusion of the process.”

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Whether or not this was on foot of the RFU making a formal complaint to World Rugby remains to be seen, but it is understood that this was the case.

Prior to Owen Farrell kicking a 24th-minute penalty, Curry can be clearly heard on the referee’s microphone saying to Ben O’Keefe: “Sir, sir, if their hooker calls me ‘a white c***’ what do I do?”

O’Keefe said: “Nothing please. I’ll be on it.” There is no audio available of the alleged comment by Mbonambi.

In the players/media mixed zone afterwards, Curry seemed shaken and visibly livid when declining to elaborate on the incident, or to repeat what was allegedly said.

After the final whistle, Mbonambi seemingly refused to shake Curry’s hands and asked if the matter was cleared up at all, the English flanker said: “No. It doesn’t need to be talked about.”

Asked if the comment crossed a line, Curry said: “Listen, I’m not talking about it now.”

The Rugby Football Union has declined to comment.

Mbonambi is the only specialist hooker in the South African 33-man squad after Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber decided to replace the injured Malcolm Marx with outhalf Handre Pollard, who kicked the 77th-minute winning penalty against England.

In a statement issued on Sunday, South Africa 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.”

Whether World Rugby’s investigation can find any evidence to substantiate Curry’s complaint is also open to debate. In that scenario, the likelihood is this would require a long investigation, whereas if no evidence is found, the matter could be concluded quite quickly, and certainly well before Saturday night’s World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand in the Stade de France.

Many South Africans took to social media in the aftermath of the game to suggest that the accusation may have stemmed from a misunderstanding, with Mbonambi’s comments possibly not spoken in English.

They reasoned that Mbonambi possibly said “wit kaant” – meaning “white side” in Afrikaans – in order to alert his teammates that the ball was on the English side of the ruck. They also claim that the ‘C’ word which Curry alleges he heard is not commonly used in South Africa, and that English is Mbonambi’s third language.