{"id":292981,"date":"2023-11-03T17:24:54","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T17:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=292981"},"modified":"2023-11-03T17:24:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T17:24:54","slug":"south-africa-reignite-white-c-row-with-mbonambis-wenkant-shirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/rugby-union\/south-africa-reignite-white-c-row-with-mbonambis-wenkant-shirt\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa reignite &apos;white c***&apos; row with Mbonambi&apos;s &apos;Wenkant&apos; shirt"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>South Africa reignites &#8216;white c***&#8217; England slur row as Cape Town mayor gifts Bongi Mbonambi &#8216;Wenkant&#8217; &#8211; or &#8216;winning side&#8217; jersey amidst raucous Rugby World Cup celebrations<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>South African government appeared to make a dig in their victory statement\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>After making the allegations Curry suffered backlash against his whole family\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>World Rugby concluded there was insufficient evidence to take any action\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bongi Mbonambi fanned the flames of controversy once again in the wake of accusations from England&#8217;s Tom Curry that the hooker racially abused him during their nail-biting Rugby World Cup semi-final.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Springboks\u00a0player gleefully received a national team jersey with the Afrikaans word &#8216;Wenkant&#8217; &#8211; or &#8216;winning side&#8217; &#8211; on the back, seemingly in reference to Curry&#8217;s claims that Mbonambi called him a &#8216;white c***&#8217; during the two teams&#8217; high-stakes tussle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Sale Sharks openside approached referee Ben O&#8217;Keeffe in the 28th minute of the match, and was heard to say over the ref mic: &#8216;Sir, sir, if their hooker calls me a &#8220;white c***&#8221;, what do I do?&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Keeffe replied: &#8216;Nothing, please.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Curry subsequently alleged Mbonambi had already used the same slur towards him when the Springboks faced England at Twickenham in the autumn of last year.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/16\/77371691-12707745-image-a-251_1699028912092.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Bongi Mbonambi was given a Springboks jersey with a faintly controversial phrase on the back<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/17\/77371697-12707745-South_Africa_have_returned_home_to_raucous_celebrations_after_wi-a-1_1699031025790.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>South Africa have returned home to raucous celebrations after winning a fourth World Cup<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/17\/77372969-12707745-The_phrase_could_reference_Tom_Curry_s_accusations_against_the_h-a-2_1699031025791.jpg\" height=\"467\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The phrase could reference Tom Curry&#8217;s accusations against the hooker which claims he called him a &#8216;white c***&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Several Springboks fans suggested Curry had misinterpreted Mbonambi saying &#8216;wit kant&#8217;, which means &#8216;white side&#8217; in Afrikaans, and World Rugby concluded that their was insufficient evidence to take any action against the player.<\/p>\n<p>Mbonambi went on to feature &#8211; briefly &#8211; in the Rugby World Cup final and helped South Africa claim a record fouth win in the venerable competion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amidst ecstatic scenes in the country, the players returned home to various open-top bus parades across the country, with Cape Town&#8217;s mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, handing Mbonambi the mocking garment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hill-Lewis had announced to the crowd that he was keen to give the World Cup-winner a present, before telling the crowd: &#8216;Bongi&#8217;s on the wenkant&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>South Africa have appeared to mock Curry a number of times after the player made his public statement, first in their release of a training footage that showed Mbonanmbi saying the phrase &#8216;watterkant&#8217;, which translates to &#8216;which side&#8217;, in drills.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The country&#8217;s government referenced the allegations in a statement of congratulations to the team, writing &#8216;The Webb Ellis (Cup) is in South Africa&#8217;s kant&#8217; in a blend of both English and Afrikaans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As per Telegraph Sport, &#8216;Wenkant&#8217; jerseys were being sold in the run-up to Saturday&#8217;s World Cup final, as were shirts with &#8216;Wit kant&#8217; or &#8216;Groen Kant&#8217; (green side) on the back.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the centre of the roiling controversy, Curry was fiercly defended not only by his team-mates and head coach Steve Borthwick, but the RFU, who also lodged a complaint with the tournament authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/03\/17\/77371709-12707745-Mbonambi_was_cleared_to_take_part_in_the_Rugby_World_Cup_final_b-a-3_1699031025791.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mbonambi was cleared to take part in the Rugby World Cup final but was injured in minutes<\/p>\n<p>South Africa&#8217;s captain Siya Kolisi also reached out to Curry, after the Red Rose star revealed that in the wake of the backlash he and his family had been targeted with threats.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We can take it as players, when it comes to us directly it&#8217;s fine, but when it comes to your family it&#8217;s totally different and that&#8217;s exactly what he said to me,&#8217; Kolisi said last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s the one part of the game we really don&#8217;t enjoy. I hope obviously it stops and he was able to prepare as much as he could for the game that he&#8217;s playing tomorrow. I have let him know we are supporting him, we are thinking of him.&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mbonambi too received the support of his union, with SA Rugby stating that they had &#8216;absolute faith&#8217; in their player.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12707745\/South-Africa-reignites-white-c-England-slur-row-Cape-Town-mayor-gifts-Bongi-Mbonambi-Wenkant-winning-jersey-amidst-raucous-Rugby-World-Cup-celebrations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa reignites &#8216;white c***&#8217; England slur row as Cape Town mayor gifts Bongi Mbonambi &#8216;Wenkant&#8217; &#8211; or &#8216;winning side&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Africa reignite &amp;apos;white c***&amp;apos; 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