Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi has been freed to play in Saturday’s World Cup final against the All Blacks in Paris.
Hooker Mbonambi was accused of a racial slur towards England player Tom Curry in last week’s semifinal.
And while World Rugby are still investigating the alleged incident, they say a conclusion cannot be reached until next week, and thus the South African No.2 is free to play in the final of the global showpiece.
Only one can make it four...#RWC2023 | #RWCFinal pic.twitter.com/k35hXarEs8
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 25, 2023
Curry’s club team in England, Sale Sharks, have reported that he has received death threats since making the allegation, while some Bok fans have said Mbonambi was speaking Afrikaans on the pitch and that his words were lost in translation.
On Wednesday, the Boks won a coin toss between the teams as to who gets the more luxurious ‘home’ change-room at the Stade de France and will be known as Team A.
World Rugby have also said that New Zealand will play in their traditional black strip, and the Boks will wear their green-and-gold jersey.
It was because of World Rugby’s sympathy towards colour-blind fans that the teams in the pool stages sometimes wore strange-looking strips that to some were simply outlandish – the Boks’ infamous ‘Checkers’ strip went down terribly with fans.
An epic challenge awaits against the old foe in the #RWC2023 final 🏆#StrongerTogether #Springboks pic.twitter.com/LG4J57TN4h
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 25, 2023
Bok assistant coach Felix Jones says Mbonambi, who has played 160 minutes in the two knockout matches against France and England, is raring to go. He explains: “Any player who is getting ready to play in a World Cup final won’t moan about how many minutes they’ve had. They will all be ready to go.”
Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber is scheduled to announce the match-23 on Thursday, and it will be interesting to see whether he makes any changes to the side that beat England 16-15 in the thrilling semifinal last Saturday in Paris.
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