# Bongi Mbonambi

Mbongeni Theo Mbonambi (born 7 January 1991), known mononymously as Bongi, is a South African professional rugby union player. He currently plays as a hooker for the Sharks as well as the South Africa national rugby team. He previously played for the Blue Bulls, making his senior debut during the 2012 Super Rugby season against the Crusaders in Pretoria. Mbonambi was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that competed in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship.

## International rugby

On 28 May 2016, Mbonambi was included in a 31-man South Africa squad for their three-test match series against a touring Ireland team. Mbonambi was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England 32-12 in the final. Mbonambi was also named in South Africa's squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
In the semi-final match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup against England, Mbonambi was accused of making a racial slur against Tom Curry. It was speculated that Mbonambi used the term "wit kant" in afrikaans meaning "white side". After investigating the allegation, World Rugby found insufficient evidence and closed the case.
Mbonambi said: "I think it is a very sad thing when you live in a first world country [England], you think the rest of the world speaks English.
"It was unprofessional on their part. They could have gone on a website and looked for an English dictionary and looked for the word in Afrikaans.
"People understood [in South Africa] but obviously their side was misunderstood."

## International statistics
### Test match record

    As of 8 October 2021
| Against | P | W | D | L | Try | Pts | %Won |
| Argentina | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 83.33 |
| Australia | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 33.33 |
| British and Irish Lions | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| England | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| France | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
| Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 100 |
| Ireland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
| Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 66.67 |
| Japan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 100 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 31.25 |
| Scotland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Total | 45 | 27 | 1 | 17 | 9 | 45 | 61.11 |
Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

### Test tries (9)

| Tries | Opposition | Location | Venue | Competition | Date | Result |
| 1 | Italy | Padua, Italy | Stadio Euganeo | Test match | 25 November 2017 | Won 35–6 |
| 1 | Australia | Brisbane, Australia | Suncorp Stadium | 2018 Rugby Championship | 8 September 2018 | Lost 18–23 |
| 1 | France | Paris, France | Stade de France | Test match | 10 November 2018 | Won 29–26 |
| 1 | Argentina | Salta, Argentina | Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena | 2019 Rugby Championship | 10 August 2019 | Won 46–13 |
| 2 | Namibia | Aichi Prefecture, Japan | Toyota Stadium | 2019 Rugby World Cup | 28 September 2019 | Won 57–3 |
| 1 | Italy | Fukuroi, Japan | Shizuoka Stadium | 2019 Rugby World Cup | 4 October 2019 | Won 49–3 |
| 1 | Georgia | Pretoria, South Africa | Loftus Versfeld | Test match | 2 July 2021 | Won 40–9 |
| 1 | Australia | Gold Coast, Australia | Cbus Super Stadium | 2021 Rugby Championship | 12 September 2021 | Lost 26–28 |