Racism row at the Rugby World Cup

There is a racism row in the rugby WC after England's Tom Curry told the ref that a black South African player called him a 'white c***'.'

I've seen the vid and this is probably not true. The thing is that South African rugby players speak in Afrikaans on the pitch instead of English, so the other team don't know their tactics. I'm reliably informed that 'wit kant,' (vit kont) means 'white side' in Afrikaans. So I genuinely think it was a misunderstanding.

On social media, a South African I follow pointed this out and I agreed with him. He then said that Curry's pause before complaining looked suspicious (why?). I agreed that it was probably a misunderstanding but also said that Curry was known as a decent guy and an honest player. I then got dogpiled by a hoard of angry Saffers determined to let me know that Curry was an evil Englishman and wasn't a decent guy because he 'lied' to the ref.

My final comment was: "What rhymes with the Afrikaans word for 'side' that describes most South Africans replying to me?"

😜

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HootyTheNightOwl

I'd query your source some more, given that your translation doesn't feel quite right to me...

The problem with this is that there are two very similar words "Wit kont" - which translates as "White ass" and "Wit kant" - which translates as "White side".

If you're not used to hearing Dutch or Africaans, I'm going to guess that it might be easy to mix up "Kont" and "Kant", given that you're in a noisy environment and what was said was perhaps said quickly and not repeated. I mean, it's literally one letter different.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@HootyTheNightOwl The reply I have seen shows the SA player shouting more towards his teammates than Curry..

'White side'. Well England play in white.

I think that this is a misunderstanding.

HootyTheNightOwl

@Burnley123 Yes, I feel that it's a misunderstanding, too - especially given the fact that it's just one vowel difference.

Not that many English people will be routinely speaking or listening to Dutch or Afrikaans, either... so, maybe he misheard what was actually said???

In fairness, I also worry that sport, in general, has become far too sensitive to racism. Like you pointed out, England wear white shirts - so, technically, you can use the term "White side" without it being a reference to skin colour or ethnicity.

What if it'd been that England were playing in black shirts and he mentioned black side - in a noisy stadium, could that be misinterpreted as "back side" in English???