Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi has revealed that he apologised to referee Aimee Barrett-Theron following their interaction during Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash.
Mbonambi was criticised for his words, actions and overall demeanour when he wanted to find out why a Sharks try had been disallowed.
The Durban outfit were 19-10 in arrears at the time and would go on to lose 40-10 to the Lions – their 10th URC defeat in 11 games.
The interaction
The Springboks hooker was unhappy about a TMO call and, as a result, the situation could have escalated, but Barrett-Theron did brilliantly to calm the situation down, while also demanding respect from the 33-year-old.
She started by asking the Sharks skipper: “Bongi, can you walk with me please, this way?” before going on to say, “Bongi may I speak please? Listen, I fully respect you and who you are, and I am well aware that all of your players have probably played more games than I have refereed in the URC.
“But we are on the same field so if you could show me the same respect that I show you, that would be very much appreciated.”
That appeared to do the job as Mbonambi then seemingly changed tact and asked Barrett-Theron: “They are just looking to me for answers, so was it foul play?” with Barrett-Theron responding, “Yes, that was foul play.”
Mbonambi was criticised heavily afterwards with the Springboks hooker being described as ‘rude’, ‘petulant’ and ‘disrespectful’.
Since then, the 33-year-old has apologized to Barrett-Theron and addressed his behavior in a statement issued through the Sharks.
“After this outcome, we as players need to examine ourselves closely. It said, “We have a lot of hard work ahead of us and cannot blame anyone else.”
I’m an all-in player, so occasionally I could let my feelings get the best of me.
“I completely respect the importance that officials perform in our sport. I never meant to come across as unkind or challenging. At the break, I apologized to the referee and said I didn’t mean any offense at all.
Head coach’s message
John Plumtree, the head coach, also had a message for the fans, who are getting irritated with the team’s subpar performances.
“We were just not good enough, and it was a frustrating performance,” he remarked.
We set lofty goals for ourselves as a club and are better than this, but right now we aren’t meeting them.
“We understand that our followers are disappointed and wounded, and we ourselves feel the same pain as everyone else who adores our brand.
“We appreciate your support during these trying times, fans and sponsors. You can be confident that a lot of work is being done behind the scenes to guarantee future success.
