‘Plastic energy’ – Springboks forward mocks England for Rugby World Cup celebrations
South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi prepares for a scrum during the 2023 Rugby World Cup Semi-finals match between England and South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France on October 21, 2023. Credit: FAR EAST PRESS/AFLO/Alamy Live News
Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi has taken aim at England for their antics during the Rugby World Cup semi-final clash last October.
A clip has been released ahead of the much-anticipated Chasing the Sun 2 documentary, detailing South Africa’s triumph in the global tournament.
In the 45-second trailer, it shows the front-row trio of Ox Nche, Mbonambi and Vincent Koch talking about their encounter with the Red Rose.
Impact replacements
Steve Borthwick’s men had much the better of the contest for the first 50 minutes, but the introduction of Koch and particularly Nche altered the momentum.
The Springboks were making some surprising errors and one such mistake by Kurt-Lee Arendse set up an attacking scrum for England.
A try in that situation would have likely ended the game as a contest, but the Boks set-piece stepped up to the plate and earned a pressure-releasing penalty.
After Arendse had knocked on, the Red Rose, as they had done throughout the match, were whooping and hollering, but their opponents had the perfect answer.
“After the knock-on they were celebrating. It’s plastic energy when you try to get energy by just shouting,” Mbonambi said, before ominously adding: “You just got a scrum and then you have to scrum against us.”
It was the scrum that changed the course of the match, with Nche getting the better of both Dan Cole and Kyle Sinckler.
They overturned a 15-6 deficit as RG Snyman’s try, allied by five points from Handre Pollard in the second period, who kicked the match-winning penalty, turned it around.
The Springboks would go on to reach the final where they defended their title by defeating the All Blacks 12-11 for their record-breaking fourth world title.
Release date and next World Cup cycle
Chasing the Sun 2 will be released on March 24 before attention turns to the next World Cup cycle.
They play their first game since the global tournament against Wales in a one-off Test before a huge double-header against Ireland.
South Africa then complete their mid-year series with a clash against Portugal before they look ahead to the Rugby Championship which starts in August.
Rassie Erasmus’ men kick-off with two matches against the Wallabies in Australia and then head back home to face New Zealand over successive weeks.
The Boks finish off the competition with home and away matches against Argentina in late September.