South Africa star details squad reaction to Curry racism accusation before final

29 October 2023 , 22:00

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South Africa star details squad reaction to Curry racism accusation before final

The racism storm which so upset and enraged England was NEVER spoken about by South Africa, according to Damian De Allende.

English bosses blasted World Rugby for what they saw as its failure to investigate Tom Curry’s claim he was victim of a racist slur from Boks hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

Asked by Mirror Sport how that disrupted their Final preparations, centre De Allende said: “Not at all, we never spoke about it. Rassie [Erasmus], our Director of Rugby, sorted it out and never brought it into the team. We just moved on to training, we didn’t let it come between us.

“As a squad, we back each other," he added. "If you do something wrong, you own up to it and say: ‘I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I did something wrong’. Bongi never did that so we accepted he didn’t do anything wrong and we moved on from it straight after the game.

“Even though it came up and there was a big media blow-up, I think Bongi handled it well. Whether he did it or not, we all make mistakes, we all hear things wrong but I don’t see Bongi as being rude or racist to any race.”

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Mbonambi ended the World Cup with a winners’ medal but lasted only two minutes of the final before being injured.

World Rugby declared earlier in the week that there was "insufficient evidence" for them to pursue the accusation despite them undergoing an investigation. Their decision was met with frustration from the RFU before England went on to claim the bronze medal in Paris.

Bongi Mbonambi was the subject of racist accusations (AFP via Getty Images)

A statement from the game's governing body read: "World Rugby has undertaken a review of allegations made by England’s Tom Curry in relation to the use of discriminatory language by South Africa’s Mbongeni Mbonambi during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday along with a further allegation brought forward in recent days about a previous match in the Autumn Nations Series 2022.

"Any allegation of discrimination is taken extremely seriously by World Rugby, warranting a thorough investigation. Having considered all the available evidence, including match footage, audio and evidence from both teams, the governing body has determined that there is insufficient evidence at this time to proceed with charges. Therefore, the matter is deemed closed unless additional evidence comes to light.

"It is important to note that World Rugby accepts that Tom Curry made the allegations in good faith, and that there is no suggestion that the allegation was deliberately false or malicious."

Alex Spink