@scrollaafrica Frizell’s yellow card in the World Cup final almost ended Mbonambi’s career. 😠 Will the Springbok hooker get his redemption at Ellis Park? #Rugby #Sport #WorldCup #Springboks ♬ original sound – Scrolla.Africa
By Lucky Vince Pienaar
Only two minutes into the World Cup final at Stade de France in Paris, Shannon Frizell was yellow-carded for one of the most infamous fouls of the tournament.
As World Cup referee Wayne Barnes decided, Frizell purposely fell on Bongi Mbonambi’s leg during a maul, putting him out of the match and very nearly ending Mbonambi’s rugby career.
Barnes flashed the yellow card at Frizell for foul play.
“They can’t drop their weight onto a player’s legs,” he said.
The yellow card was reviewed but not upgraded to red, as English match official Tom Foley remarkably saw the incident differently.
“It will remain a yellow card as he’s not targeting the lower leg. He falls on the lower leg as part of the clear-out,” Foley ruled.
The All Blacks knew, as did the rest of the world, that the Springboks had gambled on bringing in Handré Pollard after hooker Malcolm Marx was injured.
South Africa had gone into the match with only Deon Fourie as a makeshift replacement hooker, leaving the side seriously weakened after Mbonambi’s departure.
As it turned out, Fourie played the game of his life and contributed to the Boks’ one-point victory.
Much is made of Sam Cane’s red card, which left the All Blacks with only 14 players on the field for a large part of the match. Mbonambi’s departure, for some reason, is remembered as just a rugby incident—if it is remembered at all.
And now, Frizell’s cynical play is not mentioned before the match between the Springboks and the All Blacks at Emirates Ellis Park.
But Mbonambi will no doubt remember how it felt to walk off the field as his lifelong dream of playing against the All Blacks in a World Cup final turned to dust.
Nobody knows how he feels about that incident because nobody, including Mbonambi, has said anything about it.
However, it is safe to say that Mbonambi will be fully motivated to play his heart out when he walks onto the field on Saturday afternoon.
Springboks v All Blacks, Emirates Ellis Park, 5 pm, Saturday, 31 August.
Pictured above: Bongi Mbonambi.
Source: Springboks/X
