Springboks mum on Bongi's prospects of playing in the final

As expected, the Springboks opted to shed no further light on their go-to hooker Bongi Mbonambi's prospects of playing in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand during a scheduled media briefing on Monday.

It fell to scrum coach Daan Human to face questions he was unable or not sanctioned to answer.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, who has shared his views on a range of topics when he addressed media over the past few Mondays, did not face the cameras and microphones at the most recent briefing.

“That’s been dealt with by SA Rugby and World Rugby. I can’t comment on it as I just run with the scrum,” Human said about World Rugby's investigation into whether Mbonambi called England flank Tom Curry a “white c**t” during Saturday's semifinal at Stade de France.

The player made the allegation to referee Ben O'Keeffe and the allegation is now under review by World Rugby.

Mbonambi was back at training on Monday in anticipation of getting a game in what could be his second World Cup final.

“Bongi had good training and he participated well. I can’t comment on that. Bongi has been part of this group for the past six years and is an important part of our puzzle,” said Human.

“He’s one of the leaders, a great guy and a great family man. He looks after my children when they’re around. I haven’t been in discussion with the matter and, to be honest, he’s a calm guy and he’s humble.”

Mbonambi's availability for Saturday's clash is crucial. Already the Boks are without Malcolm Marx who is out of the tournament with a knee injury.

“We’ve got three guys who can play hooker and we need to have two hookers on the field,” said Human, a former Bok prop.

Earlier on Monday, World Rugby announced they would look into the matter.

“World Rugby takes all allegations of discriminatory behaviour seriously.

We can confirm we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England’s Tom Curry in relation to the use of discriminatory language during the England vs South Africa Rugby World Cup semifinal on Saturday. World Rugby will not be making further comment until the conclusion of the process,” it said.

SA Rugby has been silent on the topic apart from a short statement released on Sunday. “We are aware of the allegation which we take seriously and are reviewing the available evidence. We will engage with Bongi if anything is found to substantiate the claim.”

It is not clear whether their own investigation involved the question to Mbonambi, “did you do it?”

On another chilly day in and around Paris, Human warmed to questions involving the scrum.

“The scrum is more the subject I’d like to talk about, but we’ve worked on the scrum for the past four years. We’ve worked on the other departments. It’s useful as a foundation for us, but we can always be better. We’ve got one game where we want to be, but we’re still working hard on it.”

It was more than useful foundation as it provided the Boks a foothold when they looked in serious danger of sliding to defeat in the semifinal.

Ox Nché stepped off the bench and turned the game, not to mention England tight head Kyle Sinckler, on his head.

“I was fortunate to coach Ox for the past 10 years. I’ve been doing so since he was at the Cheetahs and he’s made good progress. We haven’t seen the best of him yet, he’s still getting into his prime, but scrums are a cohesive effort.”

The Boks will name their team for Saturday's final against New Zealand on Thursday. Whether Mbonambi or Deon Fourie will wear the No 2 jersey will be determined in the next day or two.