England great claims Springboks are ‘bullies’ ahead of Ellis Park showdown: ‘Bongi Mbonambi and Tom Curry controversy springs to mind’
Tom Curry and Bongi Mbonambi during the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final, and former England wing Jonny May.
Former England star Jonny May has revealed both the physical and mental challenge that awaits the current side when they face the Springboks this weekend.
The two teams go head-to-head in Johannesburg on Saturday as Steve Borthwick’s men face the daunting task of attempting to overcome the world number one side at altitude.
It does not help that their form in the Six Nations was abysmal, resulting in the Boks being clear favourites going into this encounter.
South Africa also love nothing more than to beat the English, which can lead to a few incidents on the field according to May.
Everything the Springboks do is about imposing themselves on the opposition and the ex-wing reckons that it can spill over.
Bongi-Curry controversy
“The controversial thing that springs to mind is that interaction between Bongi [Mbonambi] and Tom Curry [in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final], so they like to enforce themselves,” he said on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.
“They’re bullies, you know that when you’re playing South Africa. It’s not a bad thing, they want to bully and get the upper hand physically and put that dominance onto you.
“It can get a bit nasty, certainly in the forwards, but that’s what you know you’re preparing for and you know what’s coming.”
May featured in the aforementioned World Cup semi-final clash where Borthwick’s side came agonisingly close to claiming a monumental upset.
They led for much of the encounter and were 15-6 in front going into the final 12 minutes before the Springboks mounted a late comeback.
However, there was panic in the South African camp for much of that encounter and the 36-year-old felt it was because of England’s ability to get under their skin.
“That last game I played in, in 2023, we really made a point of going after them. Every time we’ve had good success against them, we’ve matched them or gone after them or out-energised them,” he said.
“It becomes part of it, whooping in their face and it’s winding them up. There was certainly a lot of that in that 2023 game.
“They probably underestimated us for that game and they weren’t at their best but we really came as underdogs and rattled them.”
Targeting Eben Etzebeth
May stated that it was often something they attempted to do, pointing to a previous victory they had over the Boks almost a decade ago.
“When we beat them at Twickenham at one time [in November 2016], Billy [Vunipola] knocked Etzebeth out with his head carrying the ball,” he said.
“He went off and I think [former England head coach] Eddie [Jones] set us that target of trying to get him off. We were like, ‘yes, you got him, Etzebeth, we got him!’
“They won’t be naïve to it, they will be coming after us.”
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