Dreaming of a wit kant Christmas
● The festive season is a time for sharing and caring, but guess who’s not coming to dinner this Christmas.
Beef Curry
Bongi Mbonambi and Tom Curry are unlikely to be on the other’s Christmas card list, let alone share a hearty dinner.
This year’s Rugby World Cup will forever carry the pong of their controversy, but as it transpired, they had beef previously. Curry’s complaint in the RWC semifinal between South Africa and England that Mbonambi had called him a “white c@#t” will go down as the most publicised expletive in the history of Test rugby.
The South African camp argued it was more a case of “Lost in Translation” than “White men can’t jump”.
Boeuf Bourguignon
It ’ s just as well that Antoine Dupont and Ben O’Keefe will enjoy Christmas hemispheres apart.
The France captain could not hide his disappointment at losing the RWC quarterfinal to the Springboks. “I won’t be the sore loser who talks about the refereeing just because we lost. But I think the refereeing wasn’t up to the job,” said Dupont of O’Keefe after France ’ s heartbreaking 29-28 quarterfinal exit.
Beef Wellington
The same goes for Aaron Smith and Tom Foley.
The former was denied a crucial try in the RWC final after TMO Foley spotted an infringement, leading referee Wayne Barnes to disallow Smith’s try. However, the knock-on happened four phases before the try, a detail not in line with the TMO’s authority to review only the two preceding phases for any knock-on in the build-up to a try.
It has to be noted that Foley suffered terrible online abuse after the final and opted to quit the game.
Bulls on brand?
Given the distance he at times put between himself and Loftus, S’bu Nkosi won’t be any where near the famous ground come Christmas Day.
The player who went missing for three weeks but was tracked down last December did not reintegrate at the Bulls in the manner many had hoped. Mental health was a topic that frequently came to the fore when he drifted off script and though he played for the Bulls again, key relationships deteriorated. His contract was terminated by mutual consent in June.
Surf and turfed
Sean Everitt, the erstwhile Sharks coach perhaps has reason not to put legs under the same table as the Sharks’ hierarchy. Everitt, a mainstay in the franchise’s coaching structures for well over a decade, was let go, in a manner considerably short of what would commonly be described as amicable. The bitter taste of his departure perhaps prepared Everitt for what he will likely tuck into in Scotland over Christmas.
Wagyu Beef
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones is unlikely to have staffers from the Sydney Morning Herald around when he serves his budget breaking beef.
The paper has been on Jones’s case since it emerged he had talks with the Japan Rugby Union about rejoining them while he was still Wallaby coach. Jones denies that was the case but his explanations have been unconvincing.
The paper even dispatched the writer who broke the story to Tokyo for the media conference in which the JRU “unveiled ” Jones as their new coach.
Beetroot burger
There was blood on the floor, or is it the spillage from Australia’s favourite beef burger when Jones announced his RWC squad.
Jones unceremoniously dumped Australian rugby legends Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper from his squad destined for France. Hooper and Cooper were the headline casualties as Jones looked towards the future, in particular the 2027 RWC on Australian soil. Pressure however mounted on Jones as their RWC campaign duly unraveled.
I won’t be the sore loser who talks about the refereeing just because we lost. But I think the refereeing wasn’t up to the job
Antoine Dupont France captain