Following England's defeat of Argentina in the third-place play-off at the Rugby World Cup, the Virgin Media panel discussed the issue surrounding Tom Curry and the racism allegations he put against South Africa's Bongi Mbonambi, and the subsequent handling of the situation from World Rugby.
During England's semi-final against the Springboks, Curry alleged that Mbonambi had issued a racist slur towards him, something which South Africa have denied and said was a misinterpreted Afrikaans phrase.
World Rugby investigated, but did not find sufficient evidence to prosecute Mbonambi.
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RFU Come Out Strong In Support Of Tom Curry
The RFU came out strong against their findings, and criticised the fact that Curry had not been allowed give evidence in front of their panel.
“The decision not to put the evidence before an independent disciplinary panel has denied the disciplinary process the opportunity to hear Tom Curry’s voice and to independently assess his account of these serious events, together with the other available evidence," the RFU said in a statement.
20 March 2021; Tom Curry of England during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Virgin Media Panel Criticise Handling Of Tom Curry Situation
The Virgin Media panel of Matt Williams, Shane Horgan, and Rob Kearney agreed that Curry's evidence should have been heard by World Rugby, with Williams also criticising their handling of recent issues including Johnny Sexton's words towards the referee at the end of last season's Champions Cup final, and Owen Farrell's ban after a dangerous tackle in a World Cup warm-up game.
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.
I certainly feel, and I know a lot of people in the rugby world feel, is that the process was not done correctly.
I don't know what happened, no one does, but the process should have been put in front of an independent panel, they should have heard from Curry, and then they make a decision.
The trouble is that world rugby has form. The process they went through with Johnny Sexton after the semi final, his discussions with the referee, took months. Owen Farrell's high tackle in the warm up was dismissed, brought back.
Their disciplinary processes have been really poor for the last six months.
Now, I'm not making, none of us can pass judgment on what or occurred or what did not occur. But the process of justice for Curry and the way they've gone about that, it really leaves them open to criticism and leaves the game open to criticism. And that's disappointing.
Rob Kearney also spoke of the transparency in World Rugby's process when dealing with such situations, and argued that they they would be less liable for criticism if they were more open with their work.
"Matt speaks about the process, but we've no idea. There's no transparency around what the process actually looks like.
"And I think if they let the public in on what the process looks like, then there might be a little bit more buy in.
"But at the moment, it's sort of, it's very cloak and dagger, behind closed doors, and then they come out with this blanket statement and no one really has any idea what's going on.
"So I think they could help themselves and win a little bit more public sentiment if they were more upfront and transparent about how they're going about, about their business."
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