South African URC side the Sharks lean into controversy in latest ...

South African United Rugby Championship side, the Hollywoodbets Sharks, return to action this weekend against coastal rivals the DHL Stormers.

Currently rooted to the bottom of the URC table with just a lone win from nine outings so far this season, John Plumtree’s team struggled early in the season without several of their Springbok stars.

Filtering back in their Rugby World Cup-winning heroes, the Sharks have yet to gel fully and will see Saturday’s clash as an opportunity to claw their way back into the competition.

Key to any success this season will be Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi who has been named on the bench for the derby fixture.

Despite playing a key role in the Boks World Cup triumph in Paris, the 33-year-old was embroiled in a highly publicized incident in the wake of his team’s semi-final victory over England.

Picking up an exchange on the ref mic, England backrow Tom Curry spoke to referee Ben O’Keeffe and said that Mbonambi had called him a ‘white c***’.

Following an investigation, there was insufficient evidence to confirm that this had been said, with many speculating that the hooker had instead said “wit kant”, which in Afrikaans means “white side”.

Announcing their team for the weekend, the Sharks followed up the announcement post with a video of Mbonambi and his teammates training with the caption, “You kant touch this”.