It was everything that Jacques Nienaber and all of South Africa feared. The only professional hooker on the scoresheet on the Springboks side, Bongi Mbonambi had to last 80 minutes or at least a large part of the match to help his team in this XXL final of the 2023 World Cup against New Zealand. This daring bet by the South African coach fell flat in the 2nd minute of play.
On a dangerous clearance from Shannon Frizell, the Springboks number 2 remained on the ground, holding his knee, before the referee stopped the match. By reviewing the images, Wayne Barnes finally decided to sanction the number 6 of the All Blacks. On this action, the third row of the Otago Highlanders takes Mbonambi too high, before crushing the hooker with his whole body, causing a twisting of the right knee for the South African.
The match referee immediately drew his yellow card after only a few viewings of the incident, also announcing a “bunker”. Wayne Barnes therefore left time, almost 8 minutes, for his friends in the video to choose whether this “unfair play” deserved more than these 10 minutes spent off the field, why not a possible red card, which would completely change the situation. physiognomy of this entire finale. The yellow card was eventually confirmed, with Wayne Barnes explaining that Frizell had not directly pressed Mbonambi’s lower limbs.
To try to compensate for the loss of his only professional hooker, Jacques Nienaber brought into play Deon Fourie, third row, but who is also capable of playing hooker. As a reminder, the South Africa coach had chosen to replace his replacement hooker Malcolm Marx, injured and out of the World Cup, with Handré Pollard, leaving Mbonambi as the only real hooker in the group.
