Double Rugby World Cup-winning hooker Bongi Mbonambi knows what’s it’s like to be made a scapegoat after a Springbok defeat.
In 2016, the powerful hooker copped the most flack after the Springboks’ historic 20-18 defeat to Italy in Florence after failing to find his jumper in a lineout in the dying minutes of the match.
It was Italy’s first ever win over the Springboks after they had lost their previous 12 matches against the South Africans since 1995.
It was also the beginning of the end of then-coach Allister Coetzee’s tenure as Bok boss, who was sacked just over a year later and replaced by Rassie Erasmus.
Mbonambi was crucified on social media for the botched lineout after the match, although most of his teammates didn’t cover themselves in glory on that fateful November day.
But eight years later, Mbonambi is regarded as a Springboks legend, having played a massive role in the team’s two Rugby World Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2023.
“Speaking from experience, in 2016 when we lost to Italy, I threw that final lineout ball and we lost it, and I had my name dragged through the mud and all that,” Mbonambi said.
“It does come with playing for the Springboks and at the highest level. You make a mistake and it costs you a Test match.”
Springboks flyhalf Manie Libbok is the recent Springboks’ player to suffer the ire of supporters after he missed a potential match-winning penalty against Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
This was despite the Springboks falling apart of long before Libbok took the field, as Los Pumas scored four tries in a manic 20-minute period against the South Africans.
However, Erasmus has backed the flyhalf to do the business in the Rugby Championship finale against the same opponents, selecting him in the starting line-up to help the Springboks lift the trophy for the first time since 2019 in the do-or-die match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
Mbonambi says the Boks have rallied around their under-fire flyhalf, and that the best thing for Libbok to do now is to dust himself off and go again on Saturday.
“Manie has been through a lot in his life, off the field too, so this is just another challenge to prove himself and to everyone else that he is a flyhalf of international standards, especially in the Springbok jersey,” Mbonambi added.
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